


Puddin'

by Clytemnestrasrevenge



Category: VIXX
Genre: Alternate Universe - Criminals, Batman AU, Betrayal, Comic AU, Daddy Kink, Dom/sub, Emotional Manipulation, Guns, Harley Ken, Harley Quinn/Joker AU, Joker Sanghyuk, M/M, Mildly Dubious Consent, Minor Character Death, Multi, Praise Kink, Rough Sex, Size Kink, Smut, Unhealthy Relationships, Villains, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-30
Updated: 2020-03-27
Packaged: 2020-07-26 00:02:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 35,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20034526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Clytemnestrasrevenge/pseuds/Clytemnestrasrevenge
Summary: “This is going to hurt, baby, are you ready for that?”





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> *THIS STORY DOES NOT ACCURATELY REPRESENT THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HARLEY QUINN AND THE JOKER. IF YOU ARE A COMIC BOOK PURIST, THIS ISN'T THE AU FOR YOU*
> 
> *THIS STORY DEPICTS A VERY UNHEALTHY RELATIONSHIP, AND SHOULD BE READ WITH THAT IN MIND*

“I have a session with a patient in like two minutes, but we can grab dinner later, yeah?” Jaehwan mumbled, his cellphone sandwiched between his ear and his shoulder as he tried to make himself as presentable as possible. He didn’t know why he even cared. He shouldn’t care. He was a psychiatrist and Sanghyuk was his patient, _nothing _more. Looks shouldn’t matter. And yet…

‘Okay, sure. I’ll get takeout from that Chinese place and call you when I’m outside.’

“Sounds fantastic, see you later, bye bye, kisses!” Jaehwan babbled, listening to his best friend chuckle on the other end of the line. A knock at his door nearly made him drop his phone, but he caught it and ended the call with undignified haste.

“Your 5 o’clock is here, Doctor Lee,” one of the four burly orderlies grunted, leading Jaehwan’s patient into his cozy office situated right in the heart of Arkham Asylum. “Thank you, gentlemen. Please remove the restraints as usual, they aren’t necessary.”

_‘He’s sooo big!’ _Jaehwan whined in his head, watching a different orderly unfasten the cuffs from around his patient’s wrists and ankles before sitting him down on Jaehwan’s sofa. “You know what to do if something goes wrong, Doctor Lee, don’t hesitate to call for help with someone as violent as this one.”

_‘Yeah, violently attractive’ _Jaehwan thought before mentally slapping himself. “Of course, I’ll see you gentlemen in two hours!” He _did _know what to do, hit the panic button that he had never used and probably never would use. All of his patients liked him! None of them had ever gotten violent around him before.

The orderlies shot the patient distrustful glances, but Jaehwan ushered them out as quickly as possible without it seeming suspicious. He looked forward to alone time with this particular patient all day long. And all _night._

“Hey there, doc. Long time, no see,” Sanghyuk said softly, standing and stretching his giant arms over his head, his cute scrunchy eyes getting all squishy as he sighed. Jaehwan could just see a tiny hint of black ink tattooed on the lowest bit of his abdomen where his beige uniform rode up.

“Hello, Sanghyuk. How was your day today?” the doctor asked, smiling and grabbing his notepad. Jaehwan always made sure to ask how his patient’s day was before getting down to the nitty gritty. It was polite.

Jaehwan took a seat in his leather armchair, crossing his legs at the knee and propping his chin on his hand. His patient’s mesmerizing black gaze ran up and down his body, like he was trying to catalog his features for some later use. The doctor didn’t shiver. He _didn’t._

“Immeasurably better, now that I get to see that pretty face of yours,” Sanghyuk replied, sinking back into the sofa cushions. Jaehwan _didn’t _blush. He also _didn’t _giggle. It wouldn’t have really mattered if he did giggle, the office was sound proof and nobody could see them (Jaehwan took doctor-patient confidentiality _very _seriously) but doing so would probably give the wrong message. “What did you do today?”

“Oh, you know,” his patient hummed, lacing his fingers together atop his shock of juniper green hair, “Plot, scheme, hatch sinister cabals. The usual.”

Jaehwan knew what that meant, stared at the wall of his padded cell until he was led to this office like he was every day.

“That sounds interesting, what kind of things did you- _oh! _I almost forgot,” the doctor chirped, jumping to his feet and setting his notepad face down on the armrest. He hurried back around his desk, bending to rifle through his bottom drawer and completely missing the bemused expression on his patient’s face. “I brought you something!”

“You _brought _me something?” Sanghyuk repeated, sitting a bit straighter. Jaehwan’s fingers closed around his gift and stood up, skittering over to hand it to his patient. “It’s just a little thing, sometimes you look like you want to fidget so I thought this might help.”

The little thing in question was a beanie baby, a yellow puppy posed to be lying on its stomach. “What is it?”

“It’s a golden retriever,” Jaehwan replied, holding it out for his patient to take. Sanghyuk didn’t. he stared at it unblinkingly for a few moments, and then tilted his head up to stare at the doctor. Jaehwan _didn’t _gulp. “It looks like you.”

“D-does it?” the doctor stuttered, clearing his throat. “Because I’m blonde?”

“It has your energy.”

Jaehwan _didn’t _laugh at the weirdness of that comment. Although this wasn’t the first time in his life he’d been likened to an excitable puppy. He _didn’t _ask whether or not his patient meant that as a compliment.

“Well, you don’t _have _to have it, I just thought you might like- only when you’re in here with me of course, but still, I-“

“I _do _want to have it,” Sanghyuk murmured, his _enormous __fucking hand _circling Jaehwan’s wrist. The doctor swore he felt the flesh there burn. “You’re such a sweet baby for me, aren’t you?”

Jaehwan blinked, several times. He hadn’t just heard- but his ears thought they-

“What did you say?”

“I said it was sweet of you.”

“Oh,” Jaehwan breathed, watching his patient take the toy from his outstretched hand. He _wasn’t _disappointed.

♢♤♧♡♧♤♢

“What kind of things do you like to scheme about, Sanghyuk?” Jaehwan asked, two sessions later.

They sat in their usual positions, doctor on the chair and patient on the couch, the little puppy clutched tightly in Sanghyuk’s hand. The Joker may be a big scary villain, but Sanghyuk was such a softie during their time together. It warmed Jaehwan’s heart to see him start making progress.

“Taking you and making you mine.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Taking back what’s mine,” Sanghyuk repeated, grinning just a bit and turning his head in the doctor’s direction. Maybe Jaehwan needed to get his hearing checked, this was happening more and more often. Or maybe it was just _wishful _thinking.

♢♤♧♡♧♤♢

Jaehwan was wearing his favorite pink sweater today. His patient liked him in pink, he’d told Jaehwan so a few sessions ago. Said it looked pretty with the doctor’s hair. Jaehwan _didn’t _smile at that thought.

“Do you have any tattoos, doc?”

“Who, me? No,” Jaehwan replied, shifting a little so he sat more comfortably in his armchair. “Why do you ask?”

The corner of his patient’s mouth quirked up in a smirk. “You’re always staring at mine.”

“Oh, well,” Jaehwan breathed, averting his eyes and pretending to write something down, “I could never- that’s not to say I don’t like them, you have a lot of them.”

“I want to tattoo my name on you so you’re the knowledge that you’re mine is permanent.”

“What?!” Jaehwan squeaked, eyes widening as he glanced back up. That must have been another one of his little hearing mistakes. It must have.

“I said, I think a tattoo would look good on you, but make sure you like it because it’s permanent.”

Jaehwan _didn’t _bite his lip when he looked away.

♢♤♧♡♧♤♢

“Let’s play doctor,” Sanghyuk said, getting to his feet once the four orderlies had closed Jaehwan’s office door. It was their thirty-sixth session today, and Jaehwan thought he was finally starting to get somewhere. A man like The Joker was a hard one to figure out. He took patience. “What do you mean by that?”

“I mean,” his patient said, taking a seat in Jaehwan’s armchair before the doctor had a chance to do so. _“I’ll _be the doctor today and _you _can be the patient.”

That was a rather unorthodox idea, but maybe a little roleplay would help Sanghyuk be more comfortable with him. Trust him. Open up. “Sure,” Jaehwan replied, gingerly lowering himself onto his couch.

“I need your notebook.”

Jaehwan passed his patient the notepad. Maybe whatever he scribbled would provide some insight.

“And your glasses.”

Jaehwan hesitated but handed those over as well. His eyesight wasn’t terrible, everything more than six feet away just looked a little blurry.

“And you have to hold the puppy.”

Jaehwan took the little stuffed dog from the side table and placed it in his lap, unconsciously petting the soft fabric on the top of its head.

“My baby is such a good listener.”

“What?”

“I said, the puppy isn’t a good listener, you don’t need to cover its ears.”

“Oh,” Jaehwan replied, looking down and realizing he had, in fact, accidentally covered the toys ears. He hastily uncovered them, looking back up into Sanghyuk’s smiling face.

“So,” Sanghyuk began, crossing his legs at the knee and propping his chin on his _giant _hand, a strangely endearing parody of the way Jaehwan normally sat. “How was your day?”

Jaehwan grinned, relaxing a little. He always forgot how cozy this couch was. “Alright, so far. I had a session with another patient this morning and did paperwork after that.”

“Which patient?”

“That’s confidential, I’m afraid.”

Sanghyuk hummed, jotting something down on the notepad. The doctor _didn’t _try and peek at what it was.

“And what did you have for breakfast?”

“A large cappuccino and a blueberry scone.”

“Tasty,” the patient replied, wetting his bottom lip just a little as he wrote down something else. Jaehwan _didn’t _unconsciously mirror the movement, his mouth had gone too dry.

“And what’s your favorite color?”

“Green,” Jaehwan breathed, staring at his patient’s hair before quickly shaking himself. He looked down at the stuffed dog, missing the amusement that flashed across Sanghyuk’s face as he corrected, “Pink and light blue.”

Sanghyuk put the pen to paper again, drawing what looked like a single line. Jaehwan wondered what on earth could have been so interesting about his breakfast order and preferred color scheme. Or maybe, his patient was just acting the part.

“So- I’m just going to call you Lee because I don’t know your first name.”

“My name is ja-“

“Don’t tell me, I don’t actually care.”

Jaehwan shut his mouth, swallowing hard. That comment stung more than it should have. He lowered his eyes back to the stuffed puppy, petting its little ear.

“Names are for _other _people, Lee. I’m _not _other people.”

“Okay, doc,” Jaehwan replied, sticking to his role and grinning a bit. Maybe this _was _a good idea after all, that small note of camaraderie was certainly a promising start.

“Tell me, how many gymnastics competitions have you won?”

“Why do you think I’ve taken part in gymnastics competitions?” the doctor asked, one brow rising of its own accord. He didn’t have any medals or trophies in here, nothing that could be used as a weapon was allowed past the metal detectors.

“The way you move.”

“How do you know I’m not a dancer?”

The patient made another note. A tally mark? “Because no _dancer _runs around a ten by ten room as chaotically as you do.”

“Then what makes you think I’m not just a flexible person?” Jaehwan asked. Another tally. The doctor _didn’t _revel in the fact that his patient had been observing him, _his body, _so closely.

“Posture. You have a dancer’s posture, but you aren’t graceful. You bend at the waist instead of the knee to grab things off the floor, your back is always straight, chin up, shoulders back, and you sit like _this _which feels like tangling yourself up in a knot. And _look _at you, a little gymnast’s body, no doubt. Now, tell me, how many competitions have you won?”

Jaehwan… Jaehwan didn’t exactly know what to make of that speech. He was flattered despite knowing he shouldn’t be, and his mind was positively overwhelmed at the amount of words that just left his patients mouth. It was the longest string of consecutive sentences Sanghyuk had ever said to him.

“Three, and one scholarship competition.”

Another tally.

“And how many competitions have you participated in?”

“Three, and one scholarship competition.”

His patient smiled. Another tally.

“So, _Lee,” _Sanghyuk said again, bouncing his foot in midair, “What’s your favorite thing about your patient known as The Joker?”

“His hands.”

Jaehwan bit his lip. He hadn’t actually meant to say that out loud. The doctor kept his eyes fixed on the dog; he might accidentally blush if he looked anywhere else.

“His _hands,” _Sanghyuk repeated. It was too late to turn back now, might as well just go with it. Jaehwan could play it off as part of the roleplay if he had too. He nodded.

“And why do you like his _hands?”_

“They’re really big.”

“Do you want me to choke you with these hands?”

“Sorry?” Jaehwan blinked.

“I said, he’s choked people with those hands.”

“That doesn’t change their size.”

Sanghyuk chuckled, the doctor’s eyes resolutely glued on his own knees. “No, I suppose it doesn’t.”

“Look at me.”

Jaehwan’s head snapped up, eyes trained on his patients, his hand frozen in the act of petting the stuffed dog’s paw. Another tally.

“Good boy.”

“What?”

Sanghyuk... Sanghyuk didn’t repeat himself. He didn’t correct the misheard comment the way he usually did. He just sat in the doctors armchair, tapping the end of his pen against his mouth. _Smiling._

“Who’s your favorite patient, Lee?”

“I don’t pick favorites; everyone is special in their own way.”

Sanghyuk clicked his tongue, tilting his head as he scanned the doctors face. Jaehwan _didn’t _shift under the heat of that gaze.

“Don’t lie to your doctor, Lee, how will that help you get better?”

“I don’t have a favorite.”

“Well, then if you could only keep one, which would it be?”

Jaehwan hesitated for a full five seconds, he didn’t want his patient to know how honest he was being. “The Joker.”

Sanghyuk chuckled, low and soft, his hypnotizing voice possessing a razor quality it didn’t usually have. “Good baby.”

“What?”

Again, no correction. Wait had his patient _actually _just called him-

“Now, Lee, I’m going to tell you things about yourself, and you tell me if they are true or false. Doesn’t that sound like a fun game?”

Jaehwan nodded, his brain still trying to decipher what it was his patient had actually said. It couldn’t have been the word _baby. _There was no way. No matter how much Jaehwan _wanted _it to be.

“Answer them as fast as you can, ready?”

“Yes, doc.”

“Good baby. Alright one… two...”

Jaehwan blinked again, searching his patients face for any hint he might really be saying the things Jaehwan was hearing. Nothing. Just that smiley, impassive mask. Per usual.

“You’re twenty-four years old.”

“False, twenty-five.”

“You dye your hair.”

“True.”

“You prefer sweet things to salty.”

“True.”

“You like tattoos but you’re scared to commit to one.”

“False, I like them, but I think I’d look weird with one.”

“Your father is dead.”

Jaehwan caught his lip between his teeth.

“True.”

“Your father died when you were young.”

“True.”

“Your father got hit by a drunk driver.”

“True.”

“You have a best friend.”

“True.”

“Your best friend is someone powerful.”

“True.”

“Your best friend is someone who doesn’t like the Joker.”

“True.”

“You like the Joker.”

“True.”

“Your best friend is unhappy about you treating the Joker.”

“True.”

That _was _true. Wonshik _hated _the Joker. He was the one responsible for Sanghyuk’s arrest and subsequent confinement in Arkham Asylum. Him and the stupid bat, of course. He had voiced his concerns about Jaehwan’s safety and wellbeing on multiple occasions, even once going so far as to ask him to quit his job, but Jaehwan always refused. He had requested this patient and he would stick with it. Jaehwan liked a challenge.

“You don’t believe that the Joker is crazy.”

“True.”

Again, that _was _true. Jaehwan had been contemplating the possibility of the Joker’s insanity being an act to escape the death penalty. He considered it a lot, actually. Sanghyuk just seemed to _normal _during their sessions.

“You believe in love at first sight.”

“True.”

“You’ve never been in love.”

“True.”

“You like rough sex.”

“True.”

“You’re ambitious.”

“True.”

“You fucked your way through college.”

“False, I had a 4.2 GPA.”

Another tally. Jaehwan was starting to feel flustered, maybe he should stop this game before it went too-

“You fucked to get this job.”

“False.”

It was true, but his patient didn’t need to know that.

Sanghyuk’s eyes narrowed just slightly. Another tally.

“Your best friend wants to fuck you.”

“False,” Jaehwan lied.

“You want to fuck your best friend.”

“False.”

“You like dogs better than cats.”

“True.”

“You like sandwich’s cut diagonally rather than horizontally.”

How could he possibly know- “True.”

“You used to do coke.”

“False.”

“You used to smoke.”

“True.”

“You don’t drink.”

“True.”

“Why?”

“I don’t like being out of control.”

His patients smile widened a little more, Jaehwan refocused on the stuffed dog in his lap.

“You’re a bad liar.”

“False.”

Sanghyuk clicked his tongue. Another tally.

“The person that killed your father was never convicted for it.”

“True.”

“You don’t like Batman.”

“Nobody _likes _Batman.”

His patient laughed. “Keep your eyes on me.” And Jaehwan did, getting lost in his patients dark, _dark _irises. Sanghyuk had such _pretty _eyes.

“You want to kill Batman.”

“False.”

“You want to kill your best friend.”

“False.”

“You want to fuck the Joker.”

“True.”

Jaehwan instantly felt himself blush, could feel the heat crawling up his face like someone had just lit him on fire. All the questions had tangled up his thought process, he had no time to reason out answers.

“You _do?”_

Jaehwan shook his head so fast his he thought it would topple right off his shoulders.

“Don’t lie to me, Lee,” Sanghyuk murmured, taking Jaehwan’s glasses off and folding them up. He twirled the pen in his hand, foot tapping on the floor. “I’ll ask again, do you… want to fuck… the Joker?”

This had gone too far, Jaehwan had lost the game. He fully acknowledged that, but now he just needed to return everything to normal before something happened that he would regret. Or not regret, and that would be worse. “I think that’s enough role play for-“

“Answer me,” his patient growled, the doctor frozen between sitting and standing. His ears were so hot they were probably smoking. “Yes.”

The confession left him in a breath, quiet. Ashamed. When had he gotten _this _unprofessional?!

“That’s _very _interesting, Lee.”

“Why?”

“Because,” Sanghyuk replied, setting the notepad and glasses on the side table, “The Joker wants to fuck you too.”

Jaehwan’s heart just flat out stopped beating. His eyes must look comically round, watching his patient unfold his long limbs and get to his feet, smiling like he’d just heard the most hysterical joke in the world. He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t move, couldn’t speak.

The panic button. He could hit the panic button and the orderlies would come and take his patient back to that padded cell. He _could, _if he wanted, but he _didn’t _want.

Sanghyuk’s palm came to rest on the doctor’s shoulder, pushing him down to a sitting position. He bent over, hands braced against the backrest on either side of Jaehwan, caging him in. Smiling. “Such a good baby.”

Jaehwan gulped.

“You’re going to be a good baby for Daddy, aren’t you?”

“Yes,” the doctor whispered, trying not to lose himself in his patients mesmerizing eyes and failing spectacularly. “Excellent.”

Sanghyuk leaned closer, and closer, and _closer _until-

His lips were so soft and so red, pressed against the doctor’s own. Just the right amount of pressure. The right amount of pleasure. Jaehwan’s mind shut off like someone had flipped his internal light switch.

His patient pulled back, just an inch, his giant hand moving to wrap around the nape of Jaehwan’s neck. No one would hear the doctor if he screamed. He was glad.

“How about you strip for Daddy.”

Jaehwan whined quietly as his head was roughly yanked back by the hair. His heart was beating so fast he was positive it was going to punch a hole right through his ribcage. _Want _and _longing _and _desire _swirled around his empty brain. “Let Daddy see that pretty little gymnast’s body of yours.”

The doctor didn’t stop to think before complying. How could he have, with his patient’s handsome face so close to his own? Jaehwan sat up straighter, eyes glued to those perfect lips as he shrugged off his blazer. Sanghyuk moved with him, compensating for distance so they were always an inch apart. No chance for the doctor to even try stealing another kiss.

He pulled his ivory turtleneck over his head, toeing off his shoes as he did so. He would have to stand up to take off his slacks, but it didn’t seem like his patient was going to let him do that.

Sanghyuk looked him over, assessing, like a shooter trying to pick a point to aim at on a targets body. Head. Neck. Chest. “Such a _pretty _baby,” he purred, dropping a hand over Jaehwan’s sternum, fingers splayed wide as he held the doctor against the couch. “Put your hands up for Daddy.”

Jaehwan reached back and curled his fingers around the cushion, watching as his patient reached down to undo his belt. The doctor tried not to fidget, tried not to pant too loudly, tried to focus his rapidly blurring eyesight. Sanghyuk’s hands on him tingled, and he dragged Jaehwan’s slacks off in a single sharp motion.

There was an hour and a half left before the orderlies would come and collect his patient, but Jaehwan wanted more. He wanted Sanghyuk to take his time.

“Do you want to take Daddy’s clothes off?”

Jaehwan nodded almost frantically, drowning in his patient’s laughter as Sanghyuk pulled him to his feet. Those giant fucking hands he adored so much came to rest on the doctor’s waist once Jaehwan had lifted the beige cotton shirt over his head, but Jaehwan barely noticed. The tattoos. He was _enthralled._

“Like what you see?”

“Yes.”

His head was yanked back again, now looking at Sanghyuk through half closed lids. It was either that or stare straight ahead, which would be the ceiling.

“Yes _what?”_

“Yes Daddy,” the doctor whined, his breath stuttering as the grip on his hair tightened. “Good boy.”

“It’s a good thing you wore a turtleneck today baby, you’re gunna need it,” Sanghyuk said, that _growl _in his voice that Jaehwan heard so rarely. It melted his insides to flaming goo.

“Oh... _oh _Daddy,” the doctor breathed, his patients mouth sealing over the base of his throat. Sanghyuk’s laughter vibrated through his skin, shaking Jaehwan down to his bones. He wrapped his arms around his patients’ neck, Sanghyuk’s hand on the small of his back. Jaehwan wouldn’t have still been standing without that support.

The heat on his flesh, wet and sucking and biting. The doctor was panting, fast and shallow. Sanghyuk could literally have been eating him alive in that moment and Jaehwan would have said thank you. His teeth ran down the doctor’s throat, nipping at his chest as he lowered Jaehwan onto the couch.

“This is going to hurt, baby, are you ready for that?”

“Yes yes yes yes _yes!”_

“Baby, baby, _baby,” _the patient purred, forming the word against Jaehwan’s stomach. He ran his tongue along the doctor’s navel, laughing as Jaehwan began to whimper. “Daddy, please!”

“Open up.” And Jaehwan did, letting his mouth fall open as Sanghyuk crawled back up his body. He pushed two fingers past the doctors parted lips, pressing down on his tongue. “Take a deep breath, pretty baby.”

Jaehwan tried, but his patient ended up just tangling his other hand in the doctor’s fringe and fucking his throat. With those _long _fingers. That Jaehwan _fantasized _about. _So often._

He tried not to make any choking noises with very little success, his patient wasn’t being gentle. But that’s what Jaehwan liked. He liked _hard. _He liked _vulgar. _He liked being _used _by someone so much bigger and so much stronger than he was. He absolutely loved it.

“You like getting fucked rough, don’t you baby?” Sanghyuk’s growled, biting sharp on Jaehwan’s earlobe. The doctor wanted to respond, wanted to say yes, but he was literally unable to speak so he just half-nodded. His patient cooed at him, crimson lips curling in a smirk

Jaehwan tried to focus, he did his best to suppress his gag reflex, but when he finally got his breathing regulated enough to do that, his patient just thrust down further his throat. He must like the doctor being vocal. Or loud in general.

“I think that’s good enough, don’t you?” Sanghyuk asked, sliding those _fingers _out of Jaehwan’s mouth and chuckling quietly. He had been told about that before he even started treating Sanghyuk. The _smiling. _And the _laughing. _It’s not like he didn’t know from watching news broadcasts, but still, seeing the Joker laugh with his digits knuckle-deep down the doctor’s throat. It was everything.

Jaehwan hummed, clearing his throat as best he could with the little time provided. “Yes _-ach- _Daddy. I like being used,” he replied, running his hand over Sanghyuk’s tattoo of an old-fashion jester with a skull instead of a face, tracing it with the tip of his finger. He adored his patients tattoos, and being able to see all of them was making the doctors head spin.

“Oh baby...” Sanghyuk whispered, dropping an incongruously sweet kiss on Jaehwan’s cheek. The doctor whined wordlessly, his heart setting itself aflame as his patience hand wrapped around his length, those dark eyes peering down into his own. “You really _are _like a little puppy. If puppies were humans and were dying to get properly fucked. I wouldn't know, I've never had a puppy.”

“Daddy… I haven’t been fucked properly in so long,” the doctor replied, his voice hoarse even without having his throat truly ruined. His patients’ hands, _god _he could not get over them! Just so _big! _Just like the rest of him!

Sanghyuk purred. Literally purred. Like a cat sitting in a puddle of sunlight. The vibrations made Jaehwan shudder. His patients voice was so raspy. Raspy but deep, the somehow melodic growl that made the doctors toes tingle. “Baby, my pretty, _pretty _baby. You’re so good to me.”

“Yes Daddy. I wanna be good for you. I’ve always wanted to be good for you,” the doctor gasped, his patient bodily flipping him onto his stomach. Sanghyuk bent him over the couch’s armrest, something Jaehwan never envisioned this piece of furniture being used for when he chose it from the catalogue. The tug on his fringe was jolting enough to bring the doctor back to the present.

“You’ve always wanted to be good for me, baby?”

“Yes Daddy, I like _-nghhh- _being a good boy for Daddy so much!” Jaehwan whined, letting his patient bend him over further.

“Oh, you’re such a _good _baby, you like whatever Daddy gives you, don’t you?”

“Ye-yes Daddy give it to me- _please,” _Jaehwan moaned, feeling his patient lean down to bite roughly on the nape of his neck. “Aw baby, you’re so cute when you whine!”

Jaehwan smiled. Beamed, more like, yelping as the other pushed those spit-slick fingers past his rim.

His patient fucked him like that, first stretching him open, sharp and hard and laughing all the while. Then fast and filthy, pinning Jaehwan against the armrest and thrusting into him so deep that the doctor felt tears prick at the corner of his eyes.

He was on cloud nine, cloud ten, cloud eight hundred and sixty fucking four. Sanghyuk held him down in a grip so strong it would surly bruise, his nails digging into Jaehwan’s flesh, dragging his teeth up the doctor’s spine. Growling against Jaehwan’s skin and laughing when Jaehwan began to sob. It was everything the doctor dreamed it would be and more, during those long nights when his fingers would probe his own body. Picturing how Sanghyuk would use him, ruin him, how he would be completely and utterly at the Joker’s mercy.

“Daddy- can I-“

“Not yet,” Sanghyuk purred, catching the doctor’s earlobe between his teeth.

Jaehwan cried out, squirming and wriggling and trying to hold off the climax he knew was very, _very _close.

“Daddy needs a favor from you.”

“Anyth-thing!”

Jaehwan _would _do anything, he thought, broken words pouring out of him like water from a pitcher. Anything and everything to be able to stay in this moment for the rest of his life.

“Well, you know how you brought Daddy that little puppy?”

Jaehwan nodded frantically, the friction from the cushion’s fabric starting to overwhelm him. Why had Sanghyuk never named the stuffed dog?

“And you know that Daddy loves it _oh so _very much?”

Another nod.

“I need you to bring something else for me baby, can you do that?”

Jaehwan’s vision was going bright, like he was staring at the sun. He wasn’t getting enough air, panting breaths aside, his head dizzy with lust.

“Anythin _-nngh-“ _he repeated.

That laugh again, but softer. Quieter.

The doctors pleasure crested, crashing down over him. Around him. Inside him. He was screaming his patients name, hands knotted in his own hair, coming completely undone just as Sanghyuk murmured, “How about you go get Daddy a gun?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ***WARNING FOR HEAVY VIOLENCE***
> 
> this is an extremely violent chapter and I apologize in advance for that. it's a big part of the plot and I didn't enjoy writing it, but the story wouldn't be complete if I just glossed over this part. after this chapter its going to be more fun, I promise. 
> 
> **also, mentions of incorrect application of electroconvulsive therapy. It's a procedure that can be extremely beneficial to some people, but not done the way I mentioned and not in this case. I don't go into too much detail, but I still thought a warning was needed**

Jaehwan tugged the collar of his turtleneck up as high as it would go, he had almost completely exhausted his supply of them. It was time to do laundry. He tried to walk as normally as possible, back straight and eyes downcast. His glasses were perched on the bridge of his nose, leather messenger bag hanging off his shoulder. The doctor was pretending, in short, that he _hadn’t _just gotten the fuck of his life from the man of his dreams. For the fifth day in a row. And it was very, _very _difficult.

“Have a good night, Doctor Lee!”

Jaehwan glanced up, flashing the girl behind the front desk his brightest smile. She was always sweet to him, sometimes bringing coffee to his office without him even asking for it. Jaehwan liked sweet people.

He left through the metal detectors without incident, hastening down the asylums front steps and turning left toward the bus stop. He needed to go home and take a several-year long bath, scrub the sweat and saliva and come off his bruised skin. Jaehwan could still feel those giant hands on him, burning him into euphoria. He _didn’t _shudder.

“Hey gorgeous!"

Jaehwan almost tripped over his own feet, spinning around to see who called to him. Cop car. There were always cop cars outside Arkham Asylum, Jaehwan didn’t even think twice when he’d walked past it. But now there was a man leaning against it, smiling and waving at him. Shit. He’d forgotten about dinner. The doctor didn’t know why his best friend was insisting on seeing him so frequently recently, it was the third time this week.

“Hey!” Jaehwan called back, hesitantly turning fully and walking up to his best friend. “Ready to eat?”

“Yeah, I’m starving,” the doctor said, allowing the other to wrap him up in a hug. Jaehwan did his best not to wince at the pressure being put on his tender flesh.

Gingerly, Jaehwan slid into the passenger seat of his friend’s car, settling his bag on his lap. He leaned back against the headrest, taking deep, calming breaths and very pointedly _not _picturing his patients mouth on his own. How soft his lips were, the way he could pin the doctor down so easily, that smiling mouth tattooed on the back of his hand…

“I called you to tell you I was here, but you didn’t answer. Busy day?”

Jaehwan opened his eyes, sighing under his breath. “You could say that.”

The car rolled away from the curb, hip hop playing softly through the speakers. Commuting to the asylum from the city was a tedious thing, but at least the car would be faster than the bus. “Any patient in particular that’s causing you trouble?”

“That’s confidential and you know it,” Jaehwan snapped, keeping his eyes fixed on the winding road before them. The last thing he was in the mood for right now was a lecture, it would ruin his post-coital glow.

“Jae, listen. If he’s too much for you to handle, nobody would blame you for wanting to stop.”

“I’m handling him just fine.”

“Really? Because it looks like you’ve been crying, and you sound even worse.”

The doctor sighed heavily, not having to feign annoyance at this line of conversation. “I’ve been having an emotional week, Mr. Commissioner, _sir, _for reasons that have nothing to do with work,” he said, enunciating the title with no attempt to disguise his aggravation. “If you want to interrogate me about my patients, get a warrant and take me to the station. If not, can we just have a nice, calm dinner in front of the tv? Please?”

Jaehwan had temporarily forgotten about the roughness in his throat. From Sanghyuk’s fingers. And his cock. He could still taste the hint of salt off his skin. He shut his eyes for a moment, trying _not _to remember how good it felt. Getting turned on right then would be incredibly unhelpful. He opened his bag and searched for a cough drop, _not _looking at the little golden retriever puppy sticking out of one of the pockets.

Wonshik glanced at him sidelong but didn’t argue, accelerating a bit faster as they pulled onto the highway.

♢♤♧♡♧♤♢

“Wonshikie?”

“Yeah?”

“Where do I buy a gun?”

Jaehwan was lying on his living room floor, limbs sprawled out like a starfish and watching the tv upside down. He had waited to ask until his friend was suitably relaxed, not wanting to raise suspicion to soon. He also needed time to come up with a convincing story for why he would want such an item.

Wonshik sat up straighter, setting his Styrofoam container of sweet and sour pork on the coffee table. “Why do _you _need a gun?” he asked, deep voice a hesitant, careful rumble.

“Oh, you know,” Jaehwan replied, airily waving his hand about, “I’m treating the Joker, the Joker has henchmen, I want to be able to protect myself if they find out I’m messing with their bosses head.”

“Jae, has he threatened you? Has he told you he’s going to send people to hurt you?” his friend asked, scooting over so he could peer at the doctor upside down.

“No! No, no it’s nothing like that! He’s a big puppy, but you can never be too careful, can you?”

Wonshik was staring at Jaehwan like he had just confessed his undying love. “You… what?”

“What what?”

“You just called the Joker… _the __fucking Joker… _a puppy.”

“Well, he is. Kind of. A giant and _very _scary puppy. But to answer your question, no. He has not threatened me. I just like the idea of having something to help make me feel safe.”

Sanghyuk wouldn’t hurt Jaehwan. His patient had assured him of that fact, told Jaehwan how much he loved him. How much he needed him. And Jaehwan believed him. He had gotten good at telling when his patient was lying and when he was telling the truth. When he said he loved the doctor, he never lied. Not once.

Jaehwan was convinced at this point that his theory about his patients’ insanity, or lack thereof, was correct. Sanghyuk wanted a gun because he wanted to escape. He had told the doctor as much, flat out with no twisting of words or half-truths. He wanted to kill the stupid bat. As soon as he did that, he was going to go out in style. Retire at the height of his fame like when One Direction broke up. Something like that, Jaehwan wasn’t good at metaphors. Or comparisons. Whatever, in any case, he got the point. Sanghyuk was going to dispatch the awful bat and then he and Jaehwan were going to lock themselves up in an estate in the country somewhere and fuck like rabbits for the rest of their lives. And _that _sounded excellent.

“Do you want me to set up a patrol? I can have a few of the guys come and check up at night, make sure you’re safe. Would that help?”

“No, that’s totally unnecessary! Really, I’m not in any actual danger,” Jaehwan replied, smiling. Reassuring.

Wonshik didn’t speak immediately, his eyes had drifted lower, no longer locked on the doctors. His expression was stony, carved in marble. Cold.

“Jaehwan what is on your neck?” Each word clipped. Hollow. One of his best friend’s hands moved to pull down Jaehwan’s turtleneck, but the doctor slapped it away. His marks were for him only. And Sanghyuk. Only the _two _of them were allowed to admire the deep red splotches ringing Jaehwan’s throat. And sprinkled across the rest of his body. “What happened to you?!”

“Nothing!” Jaehwan squeaked, rolling away and jumping to his feet. “It looks like someone tried to fucking strangle you!”

An explanation was required now, he didn’t want his best friend to get suspicious and start connecting the dots. It would ruin Sanghyuk’s plan. “I have a boyfriend!” he blurted, scooting around to the other side of his sofa so Wonshik couldn’t reach him. “Since when?!”

“Since awhile!”

“And you didn’t tell me?!”

“I _do _have other friends besides you!”

“That’s a straight up lie! Did this _boyfriend _try and choke you to death?!”

Jaehwan huffed, avoiding his friends grasp again and moving into the kitchen. “I like kinky sex, Shikkie, just relax!” he exclaimed, hoping the brash reply would shut the other up. It worked like magic. If the doctor hadn’t been so annoyed, he would have laughed, Wonshik’s jaw literally hit the floor.

“Are you going to tell me where to get a gun or not?”

♢♤♧♡♧♤♢

It was two in the morning and Jaehwan was dressed head to toe in black, a long wool scarf wrapped around his mouth and a baseball cap covering his hair. He was on an errand for Sanghyuk and _really_ didn’t want to be seen.

Wonshik hadn’t told him where to buy the kind of gun he needed, so Sanghyuk told him to come here instead. That his men would give Jaehwan the gun and all he had to do was bring it. Walking right into a den of criminals wasn’t exactly the most pleasant idea, but Jaehwan was being as brave as he could be.

His knock on the warehouse door echoed around the dark ally. Jaehwan had taken a cab to a nearby club and then walked, he didn’t want _anyone_ to know where he was going. It was the same reason he hadn’t asked to borrow his best friends’ civilian car. Tracking.

“The fuck do you want?”

Jaehwan swallowed, balling his hands into fists where he was hiding them in the pockets of his coat. The man looking down at him was even bigger than his patient, an evil glint sparking in his dark eyes and a very shiny handgun at his hip.

“I’m here to pick up a package for Mister J,” the doctor replied, using his most professional voice and repeating what his patient told him to say.

The man barked out an incredulous laugh. “You? Nah, you’ve got the wrong place pretty boy.” He started to shut the door but Jaehwan stuck out his foot. Sanghyuk had told him not to let himself be intimidated, that he should treat his men like they were Jaehwan’s own men. And to tell him if anyone was overly rude so he could suitably punish them.

“I have the _right_ place,” the doctor said coldly, glaring at the man over his scarf.

“Move your foot,” the man said, but Jaehwan didn’t budge.

“No.”

With an impatient huff, the man pulled his gun from its holster and pointed it directly at Jaehwan’s head. Jaehwan froze, staring down the barrel as his heart began to race. “Move your fuckin’ foot and get outta here before I shoot you.”

What should he do?! The doctor _really _didn’t want to get shot, but he wasn’t going to let Sanghyuk down. He wouldn’t be able to stand that. Jaehwan racked his brain, what would Sanghyuk do if someone was point a gun in between his eyes? _Oh._

Jaehwan looked past the gun, the corners of his mouth curving up in a grin as he stared at his patient’s henchman. The man seemed a little unnerved, it was almost funny. Jaehwan started to giggle.

“Why don’t you give me what I came for? I think that’d be the smartest thing you can do at this point,” the doctor said, his laugher dying away as soon as it had come. He took a step forward so the barrel was pressed to his forehead, giving the man his best imitation of Sanghyuk’s smile.

♢♤♧♡♧♤♢

Wonshik stood alone on the roof of his apartment building, looking up at the night sky. He was waiting. The bat had sent him a message saying they needed to talk and Wonshik wasn’t going ignore it. Unlike the majority of Gotham’s citizens, he actually liked the bat.

Jaehwan _didn’t_ like the bat. His best friend was a smart cookie, one of the brightest people Wonshik had ever met, and so he hadn’t had much trouble working out that the bat must be an incredibly wealthy man. With his armor and gear and the car, the guy would have to literally bleed money to be able to afford all that. Jaehwan had a prejudice against anyone that rich. The guy who killed his dad was that rich, and so he had wormed his way out of prosecution. Wonshik couldn’t really blame Jaehwan for that. But why had his best friend wanted a gun all of a sudden?

“Commissioner Kim.”

Wonshik looked around, finding the dark silhouette of the bat standing on the roof several yards away. He hadn’t made a sound, but Wonshik hadn’t expected him too.

“You said you wanted to talk to me, so here I am,” he replied, turning fully so he could look the bat in the eye.

“It’s about our friend The Joker.”

“I thought as much,” Wonshik sighed, running a hand through his hair. It was only due to his and the bats combined efforts that the Joker was behind bars at all. Or locked in a padded cell, in any case. It was the only thing he and the bat had in common.

“His men have begun to mobilize, but I don’t know why.”

“That’s never good. Do you think they could be planning to try and break him out of Arkham?”

“It’s possible. I can’t think of another reason. Has his doctor mentioned anything to you? Anything strange or out of the ordinary?”

Yes, that he wanted a gun. But that was just for self-defense, it wouldn’t have anything to do with The Joker himself. “Not really, only that he’s starting to feel unsafe,” Wonshik replied, half truthfully.

“Can you try and get more out of him? We need to stop whatever this is before it starts.”

“I don’t think so; Doctor Lee is big on patient confidentiality. But I’ll station extra men at the asylum until whatever this is blows over.”

The bat’s white teeth gleamed in the night as he flashed the commissioner a humorless, dimpled smile.

“He always keeps us on our toes, doesn’t he?”

♢♤♧♡♧♤♢

“Baby, _baby_ where’s my present?”

Jaehwan shuddered, grabbing the edge of his desk so hard that his knuckles were white. His patient gripped his waist, digging his fingers into the doctor’s bruises and holding him down against the cool wood.

“I have it… but I want you… to promise me something,” Jaehwan panted, trying to look at Sanghyuk over his shoulder. He was dragged up by the hair, a strong arm wrapping around his middle and pinning his arms to his sides. The doctor tried his best not to moan.

“Why are you stalling baby? I thought you wanted to be a good boy for daddy, huh?” his patient purred, biting the base of his throat just on the edge of too hard. “I do, but daddy has to make a promise first.”

Sanghyuk laughed, giving the doctor’s blonde locks another good yank. “Baby knows how to play! Alright, what do you want me to promise?”

“Don’t- don’t hurt my friend, the girl at the front desk. She’s sweet to me.”

“Aw,” his patient cooed, spinning Jaehwan around and sitting him down on the tabletop. “She’s _sweet_ to you, baby?”

The doctor nodded. “Does she bring you cups of coffee with her phone number on them and suck your pretty cock when you’re too hard up?”

“No!” Jaehwan squeaked, tracing the _‘haha haha’ _tattoo on the left side of Sanghyuk’s chest. The coffee part was true, but there were no phone numbers involved and nobody had touched his dick for months before his patient. “She’s just nice, so promise me you won’t hurt her.”

“Alright, alright, alright, I promise,” Sanghyuk sing-songed, bracing his giant hands on either side of Jaehwan’s thighs. The doctor sighed with relief, slinging his arms around his patients’ neck and accepting his kiss with sheer delight. “Now, where’s my present?”

“Bottom drawer on the left.”

Sanghyuk grinned, moving around to the other side of Jaehwan’s desk to retrieve his gun. The doctor had procured it easily enough after his little acting display. It seemed as though The Joker’s henchmen weren’t too keen on ignoring an _indirect_ order from their boss, and also wanted to get rid of Jaehwan as soon as possible. The gun was made of polymer and ceramic, disassembled in three sections, and it passed through the metal detector like it wasn’t even there.

“Perfect. You’re such a _good_ boy for me baby.”

Jaehwan beamed at the praise, watching his patient put the weapon back together with nimble, quick fingers. Sanghyuk’s uniform shirt was off and abandoned on the floor where Jaehwan had thrown it before he got his throat fucked rough. His beige drawstring pants slung so low on his hips it was almost indecent. The doctor bit his lip and stared. He couldn’t help it.

“Go over the plan with me so I know you remember.”

The doctor coughed, unsuccessfully attempting to drag his mind out of the gutter for long enough to comply. “I scream, hit the panic button, daddy goes and fucks shit up, I wait here until you get me so it looks like you kidnapped me on the security cameras.”

“Exactly. Now, I’m gunna have to rough you up, baby.”

“You rough me up every day.”

Sanghyuk chuckled, setting his gun down and pulling Jaehwan to his feet. “I mean _really _rough you up. Make it look like you tried to stop me and lost baby boy.” The doctor swallowed hard. “Okay, that makes sense,” he replied quietly, staring down at his shoes. It was a smart idea, if something went wrong, Jaehwan getting arrested wouldn’t do anyone any good.

“Take off your belt.”

And just like that, the doctors mind was right back in the gutter. He eyed his patient as he undid the buckle and slid it free, handing it over without question. “And your glasses. Oh, and one of your rings.” Jaehwan complied, taking his favorite silver ring from his middle finger and giving that and his glasses to Sanghyuk as well.

His patient dropped his glasses on the floor and stomped on them, looping the belt around Jaehwan’s wrists and tugging it tight so they were bound behind his back. Sanghyuk reached up and tore the sleeve of his blazer, quickly unbuttoned Jaehwan’s shirt so it hung open, and ripped the waistband of his slacks along the seam.

“Take a deep breath baby boy, this _isn’t_ going to be fun for you,” Sanghyuk said, slipping Jaehwan’s ring onto his index finger before running his hands through the doctor’s hair. Jaehwan did, managing to inhale and exhale twice before his patient backhanded him across the face so hard he lost his footing.

The doctor’s eyes stung with tears, pain blooming over his cheek where he felt the ring slice his skin. Sanghyuk caught him as he stumbled. “One more time,” he murmured, hitting the exact same spot but keeping a hand on Jaehwan's arm so he didn’t fall. Jaehwan whimpered, but at least his patient avoided his nose and teeth, he would heal easily from this.

Sanghyuk leaned in and kissed him on the mouth so sweetly that Jaehwan wanted to just melt. If his wrists weren’t bound, the doctor would have held him as tight as he could. He loved this man, _loved_ The Joker so unbelievably much, he didn’t want him to go. Jaehwan yelped, feeling his lip start to bleed where Sanghyuk bit him.

“Thanks for all the help, baby boy,” he said, shoving Jaehwan backward with a peel of laugher. The doctor stumbled into the wall and slid down so he was sitting on the floor, momentarily distracted by the word _‘Damaged’ _that was tattooed right beneath his patient’s dark green hairline. There was blood on Sanghyuk’s mouth, and he pressed his lips to Jaehwan’s ring before grabbing his gun and slamming a hand on the panic button.

Jaehwan watched mutely, weak from pain and _weak_ for this man as his office door burst open and four orderlies streamed in. They didn’t stand a chance. The doctor had never actually heard a gun fired before, the popping sound was so loud it left his ears ringing as he stared at his patients back.

Sanghyuk stepped over the bodies of the fallen men and left without sparing a glance for either Jaehwan or the men whose lives he had just ended.

Rapid gunfire rang through the hall outside, soon joined by the sound of heavy boots and panicked shouts. Jaehwan felt dazed. The reality of what he had just done hit him all at once. He had given a mass murder a gun and released him out into the world to cause trouble. And yet, he couldn’t bring himself to regret it. The doctor _loved_ Sanghyuk. Loved him with his _whole_ heart. He wanted nothing more than to leave the city with Sanghyuk and live together quietly, it was his dream ending with his dream man.

Jaehwan waited for what could have been hours or could have been minutes. He had closed his eyes, trying to breathe as slowly as he could and praying that Wonshik wasn’t here. The doctor had warned Sanghyuk about the extra security his best friend had set up, but that didn’t mean Jaehwan wanted the commissioner to get shot. He didn’t want him _anywhere_ near the asylum today.

Several sets of footsteps echoed outside and Jaehwan looked around. Sanghyuk must have succeeded!

But it _wasn’t_ Sanghyuk, it was two men in leather jackets and gruesome clown masks with what looked like assault rifles slung over their shoulders.

“Oh, would you look at _that!_ The little bitch that doesn’t know how to listen.”

Jaehwan knew that voice, it was the man who gave him the gun at the Jokers hide out. “Mister J is coming for me, don’t do anything stupid,” Jaehwan spat, instantly regretting the choice to let Sanghyuk bind his hands.

The men both laughed, coming into the room and each grabbing one of the doctor’s arms. They hauled him to his feet and dragged him to the hall, not paying his struggling any attention. “Let go of me you stupid pieces of shit! Daddy’s gunna fucking _kill you_ for touching me! Put me _down!”_

The larger one, the one the doctor recognized, stopped and pulled his gun off his shoulder. “Are you going to shut up and make this easy for yourself? Or no?”

Jaehwan snarled wordlessly and spit in the mans masked face, crying out when the guy cracked him in the jaw with the butt of the riffle. “Fuck you and fuck your _bitch_ mother, I hope you both _burn in hell,”_ the doctor managed, dizzy from pain as the unknown henchman slung him over his shoulder.

He was carried, cursing _profusely_ the entire way, down a flight of stairs and into one of the wings Jaehwan almost never entered. Alternative therapy. He flat out refused to use any of this barbaric bullshit on his patients, and the fact that other doctors did made him physically sick.

“Don’t _touch_ me!” the doctor screamed as he was shoved roughly down onto one of the metal tables. The belt around his wrists came free but he was strapped to the table before he had the chance to lift a finger.

The henchmen stepped away, still paying Jaehwan no attention as he tried to free himself from the restraints.

“What do we have _here?”_

“Sanghyuk?! Sanghyukkie daddy _help!”_ Jaehwan cried, but his only answer was laughter.

“Is this the girl at the front desk who’s so _sweet_ to you?”

Jaehwan blinked, trying to clear his vision as his friend was pushed over him. She was crying, panic in her eyes and a tattooed hand tangled in her hair.

“Hey, hey you’re okay! He promised he wouldn’t-“

His reassuring words cut off in a scream, the barrel of a hand gun pressed to his friend’s head and a trigger pulled. The doctor squeezed his eyes shut, forcing himself _not_ to think about how the warm wetness on his body was his friends’ blood.

"I did _everything_ you asked of me, I _helped_ you!”

“Do you know how much of a _drag_ shock therapy is, baby boy?” Sanghyuk asked, chuckling and ignoring the doctor’s words.

“Yes! I never use it, ever! I never used it on you!”

His patient laughed louder, reaching out to stroke his bruised cheek. Jaehwan leaned into it desperately, trying to steal as much comfort from the touch as he could.

“You weren’t my only doctor, baby boy, just my _favorite.”_

Jaehwan screamed again as a pair of electrodes were stuck to his temples. This _wasn’t_ how this was done, there was anesthesia and muscle relaxants and heart monitors and-

“What are you gunna do Mister J, huh? You gunna kill me?”

“Hm? Oh, _no_ pretty baby, no,” the Joker replied, leaning down and pressing a kiss to Jaehwan’s bloody forehead. “I’m just gunna hurt you. Really... _really_ badly.”

Brave. Doctor Lee Jaehwan was _fucking brave. _He was _fearless. _No amount of electrodes was going to scare him. _Fuck _this, if his daddy wanted to hurt him, he would handle it. Pain was _nothing._

“You think so? Do it! I can take it!”

His patient laughed louder than before, looking down at Jaehwan with a wide smile on his face. “That’s my good boy,” he purred, reaching out of the doctor’s field of vision.

“Quick question though baby, what’s your name?”

“Jaehwan. Lee Jaehwan.”

His patients put a belt in his mouth, as the machinery next to the table began to whir. “Well, Lee Jaehwan, I _really_ enjoyed our time together. Try not to die.”

The feeling that surged through him was indescribable. The last thing Jaehwan remember was a gun being pointed at his head and Sanghyuk’s voice saying “No, leave him let’s go,” before he slipped into dreamland.

_Jaehwan was in a neat white kitchen, his three-year-old daughter balanced on his hip as he flipped pancakes one handed. _

_He had on a clean blue button down and slacks, all ready to start his day. This was their home in the suburbs, his family’s home. _

_“Good morning again,” his husband called, strolling into the kitchen in a neat grey suite, their five-year-old son in tow. Sanghyuk’s hair was black, not a single tattoo inked into his skin, a sweet smile on his face as he came to give the doctor a kiss on the cheek. _

_“And good morning to you too, beautiful,” he cooed, bending down and kissing their giggling daughter’s forehead. _

_This was his fantasy, his dream. A normal life with the man he loved. Jaehwan would have it. He would go find Sanghyuk and join him. He would. He would do it if it was the last thing he ever did. _

♢♤♧♡♧♤♢

_‘All units, repeat, all units report to Arkham asylum immediately.’_

The call had come over the scanner half an hour ago, and Police Commissioner Kim Wonshik was going out of his mind with panic. On the inside of course, he was calm and professional on the outside, delegating orders and initiating emergency procedures.

Jaehwan was _in_ there. Jaehwan went to work there that morning. His best friend was locked inside that _fucking_ maze and was the lead doctor treating the patient who caused this horror. Wonshik was trying to prepare himself for seeing his best friends’ dead body. It wasn’t working.

“Team ready?”

His elite squad of officers all nodded, and the commissioner checked that his bulletproof vest was secure before taking his gun from its holster.

“With me, protective sweep. Radio if you find anything.”

They entered the building, fanning out across the ground floor to check for survivors. None. Only corpses of people who did not deserve to die.

His saint of a best friend was here somewhere. Wonshik checked every corner, every hall, but couldn't find him. He had begged, _begged_ Jaehwan not to take this job, but his best friend was too stubborn. Too determined to help people, even if they were past the point of being helped. He refused to not at least try. And now he was almost certainly dead, or worse, the Joker had taken him hostage.

_‘Fifth floor, clear’ _crackled over his radio and his men regrouped to keep moving. The sixth floor was the alternative therapy ward. Wonshik had been in there once before and it gave him chills.

Jaehwan’s office was on the floor above this, and he was tempted to just throw everything and run up there, but one of his officers called over the radio before he had the chance.

_‘Sir we found someone, male, between twenty and twenty-five, tall, blonde. He’s alive but he’s in bad shape!’_

Wonshik nearly cried with relief. He jogged to then room number his officer told him and skidded to a halt, just as one of them was removing a strip of leather from his best friends’ mouth. Then, he nearly started to cry for an entirely different reason.

Jaehwan was _covered_ in bruises, blood staining his skin and his face and his hair. He was strapped to a table, babbling incoherently as the officer pulled a pair of electrodes off his temples. “He was hooked up to that when we found him, I think it was shocking him. We turned it off, but he needs medical attention.”

“Call in the EMT’s now, go,” Wonshik said, hurrying over to tear the restraints off his shaking best friend. He could hear his men following orders in the background, but everything was buzzing.

“Hey gorgeous,” he whispered, taking one of Jaehwan’s hands in his, “You’re going to be okay; I’ve got you.”

His best friend stared up at him with glassy, unfocused eyes, tremors still racking body. His lip was trembling, and Wonshik was doing everything possible not to stare at the bruises.

_“Daddy?”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you made it to the end, just know that im as sad as you probably are. <3


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not so much of a warning this time but there's a teeny tiny bit of violence, just keep and eye out if you're sensitive to that.
> 
> *two days is long enough to wait between uploads, right?*

“You’re doing good work, Master Lee. Even if the people don’t appreciate it, they’d be lost without you,” Taekwoon said, settling the black mask over Hongbin’s face.

The owner and chairman of Lee Enterprises was suiting up for a night of either life saving or trouble making. It depended on who you asked. His loyal butler and childhood friend was helping him as always, strapping on his various accoutrement was definitely a two person job.

“Thanks for the daily encouragement, it doesn’t go unnoticed.”

Taekwoon smiled, adjusting the folds of Hongbin’s cape before stepping back. “Go kick some bad-guy ass, and make sure to come home in one piece.”

Hongbin nodded. He shook his head a little, trying to put himself in the crime-fighting mindset as he slid behind the wheel of the bat mobile and started the ignition.

The Joker was out. He had escaped from Arkham just like Hongbin knew he would the moment he was locked up in there. He should have gone to real jail. The people, however, thought that what the Joker needed was a lethal injection, not a brief stint in an asylum. There was a city-wide manhunt underway to try and find him, but it was doing no good. It had never done any good before, why should this time be any different? One didn’t snare the Joker by looking for him, you had to catch him when he was already out in the open.

This time though, Commissioner Kim was not holding back even the slightest bit. The official story was that he wanted to find the Joker and lock him up again, but Hongbin had heard the order privately spread through the ranks of Gotham’s police. Kill on sight. The Commissioner had apparently taken his doctor friends assault personally. No more playing games. He wanted the Joker dead, and _that _was a sentiment that Hongbin didn’t necessarily agree with, but he definitely saw the appeal.  


Those thoughts absorbed Hongbin during his drive down town. He parked the bat mobile in his private underground lot and then scaled a nearby building, moving silently from roof to roof and scanning his surroundings for those of the criminal class. Petty crime had been on the rise again recently, it shouldn’t be too hard to find some trouble to stop.

After a solid half an hour, Hongbin paused on the roof of a nightclub. The music was loud, leaking from the cracks in the buildings walls and spilling out into the streets, base beating through the soles of his boots.

He peered over the edge and down into an ally, seeing a boy with hair that was an alarming shade of turquoise stumbling in the dark. His hand was braced on the wall, head down, clearly drunk, and he hadn’t noticed the two thugs creeping up behind him.

Hongbin leapt down, landing lightly on his feet and grabbing one of the men by the collar. The other one turned tail and ran as soon as he saw who Hongbin was, so he shoved the other one back down the ally and watched the assailants leave without a fight. That was _much _easier than he had been expecting.

“My hero,” a husky voice drawled, and Hongbin turned around to see the boy leaning up against the wall. His head was lolling to the side, the fishnets under his shorts artfully torn and creepers on his feet strategically scuffed, satin bomber jacket open and chest bare beneath. His goofy smile was aimed at Hongbin, and the boy gave him a little wave before nearly toppling over.

“You’re drunk and the streets aren’t safe right now. I’ll take you home,” Hongbin said, reaching out a hand to help steady him. The boy giggled, stumbling over and nearly collapsing at the hero’s feet. Hongbin caught him, able to smell his hairspray as the boy slung his arms around Hongbin’s neck. “How can it _not _be safe with you running around?”

Hongbin smiled to himself, maybe his efforts _were _appreciated after all. The boy wobbled so Hongbin scooped him up into his arms. They would make it to the boys house a lot faster if he was the one doing the walking, and there was other mischief to stop. Hongbin didn’t have all night.

“What’s your name?” he asked, moving off towards the mouth of the ally.

The boy rested his head on Hongbin’s shoulder, shifting a little like he was trying to get comfortable. “Hwannie.”

“That’s a cute name,” Hongbin replied, scanning the darkened street before them.

“I know,” the boy said, just as something sharp stung the side of Hongbin’s neck.

“What- wha…” Hongbin mumbled, dizziness crashing over him. He dropped the boy, now perfectly steady and grinning down at Hongbin lying on the ground. The last thing the hero of Gotham saw before blacking out was the boy crouching over him, an empty syringe clutched in his hand. _Shit._

♢♤♧♡♧♤♢

So… Jaehwan had stolen from work. He wasn’t the first person to steal from their office and he wouldn’t be the last. It’s not like he stole things _regularly, _he just needed one little syringe of tranquilizer. Sue him.

Posing as a drunk, helpless club-goer had worked like a charm. Someone as chivalrous as the bat would find him irresistible, men like that loved nothing more than a charity case. Jaehwan had chosen his location strategically. The abandoned warehouse he had scouted out was only a block away and the bajillion loud clubs in this neighborhood would do a great job of muffling any resulting noise.

Dragging the bat hadn’t been fun, but it was easier than the doctor expected. His suit looked heavy, but it weighed almost nothing, and the bat was only like an inch taller than him. The tranquilizer worked almost too well, and Jaehwan had been pacing back and forth for an hour while he waited for it to wear off. This would be sure to get Sanghyuk’s attention.

Out of curiosity, the doctor leaned down and brushed his fingers over the bat’s mask. No one had ever seen him without it before, all that secret identity mysterious bullshit. Jaehwan wanted to see what his face looked like. Either the bat was super-duper ugly, or had an extremely recognizable face. Anyone with _this _much of a savior complex and clearly _this _dissociated from reality was intriguing. He _was _a doctor, after all. Somethings you just can’t turn off.

Slowly, Jaehwan pulled the mask off the bats face. Well, his second guess was correct. The man was undeniably gorgeous, in a very boy-next-door kind of way. Nice cheekbones, strong jaw, clear skin. And pretty dark eyes. Oh, shit his eyes were open.

Jaehwan took three very quick steps backwards, watching the hero of Gotham blink groggily at him.

“Hwa-Hwannie?”

“Rise and shine, handsome! How do you feel?”

The bat smacked his lips. He was probably pretty thirsty, but it’s not like Jaehwan actually cared. “What did you give me?”

“Sodium Thiopental. I thought it would be easier than trying to punch you.”

“Who- who are you?”

Jaehwan considered for a moment. The bat was going to die anyway, he may as well tell him. “Lee Jaehwan, Md. It’s… well not _nice _but like, it’s alright to meet you.”

The bat’s eyes widened in apparent recognition. He cleared his throat, shifting in the chair he was tied too. “Wonshik’s doctor friend? I thought you were in a rehab facility recovering!”

Suddenly, the realization of who this man was clicked into place. Jaehwan squinted, just to be sure. “Wait… you’re Shik’s college buddy! The rich bitch with the daddy issues! That’s… anticlimactic! I’m actually kinda disappointed.”

“Why did you inject me with… what was it?”

“Sodium thiopental,” Jaehwan supplied helpfully.

“Yeah, that. Why did you do that?”

The doctor smiled, pulling his _borrowed _gun from the waistband of his shorts. It was borrowed, not stolen. He’d give it back to Wonshik eventually, and it’s not like the commissioner would miss it. He had buckets of them. “Cos I’m going to kill you.”

“Why didn’t you,” the bat coughed lightly, “Why didn’t you just inject me with poison then? And why do you, of _all _people, want to kill me?”

Jaehwan sauntered to him, putting the mask back over the bats face and sitting sideways on his lap. Even with the stupid mask, he could see the surprise in the bat’s eyes. Jaehwan smiled wider. “Poison’s a way too boring way for Batman to die. And I need to get someone’s attention.”

“And who might that be?” Jaehwan pressed the barrel of the gun against the soft underside of the bat’s jaw, resting his finger on the trigger. “The Joker. My former patient.”

The doctor heard the sigh, saw the look of pity on the bats face. Jaehwan bristled.

“I know, you’re thinking, ‘What a shame! A poor, innocent, little thing like him, led astray by bad companions’.”

“Well, yes. From everything I’ve heard, you’re a great person. It’s a shame to see the Joker’s influence prompting you to murder.”

“I have that effect on people.”

Jaehwan perked up, whipping his head around to find Sanghyuk standing in the doorway. His heart leapt.

Sanghyuk’s dark green hair was styled up, white dress shirt open at the neck and slacks so well-tailored the doctor had no trouble picturing what his thighs looked like underneath. He had a gold chain around his neck, diamonds in his ears, rings on his _giant _hands. Jaehwan noticed his own silver band on the Joker’s index finger, resting on top of the handle of his gold cane. It took everything in the doctor’s power _not _to swoon.

“Daddy! I didn’t hear you come in!” he squealed, hopping off the bat’s lap and running into Sanghyuk’s waiting arms. “Long time, no see, baby boy. I like the new get-up.”

“And you have the _gall _to say _I _have daddy issues?” the bat called from behind them. Jaehwan spun around and pointed his gun at his victim’s stupid face. “One more word and you’re fucking dead.”

Sanghyuk clicked his tongue, his _enormous _fucking hand wrapping around the nape of the doctor’s neck. “No, no, _no, _pretty baby. I don’t want him dead! Life would be so boring without Batsy, he _completes _me,” he said, reaching for the gun in Jaehwan’s hand.

“But… but you try to kill him like… twice a week!” Jaehwan exclaimed, staring incredulously up into Sanghyuk’s face.

The Joker chuckled, giving Jaehwan’s hair an affectionate little tug. “You may be a certified dime, baby boy, but you really don’t know anything about anything.” The doctor arched a brow.

“I have an IQ of 154 and a Ph.D.”

“So what?”

Jaehwan opened his mouth and closed it several times. “So… so I know lots of things!”

“I’ve heard you’re very smart, Doctor Lee, so why don’t you do the _smart_ thing and let me go?”

“Batsy doesn’t die today, we’re just starting to have fun. I appreciate you trying though, baby. I really really really _really _do.”

“But daddy! I got him!”

Sanghyuk laughed, soft. He tucked his cane under one arm, leaning down so he could kiss the doctor on the mouth. Jaehwan whined, latching onto the front of his lover’s shirt like a lifeline. Sanghyuk’s mouth was as sweet as ever.

“I mean... not to rain on your parade, Mister J, but this is the closest anyone’s ever gotten to actually killing me. Certainly, closer than _you’ve _ever gotten.”

Jaehwan pulled away with a snarl and let off a shot right next to the bats left foot. “Don’t speak to him, overgrown little trust fund bitch!”

Lightning quick, Sanghyuk whipped his cane down on the doctor’s wrist and knocked the gun out of his hand. “What the fuck did I just say, baby boy? Do I need to repeat myself?”

Jaehwan shook out his hand, stomping his foot to stop himself from whimpering in pain. Doctor Lee didn’t do things like that anymore. _Pain _was a concept that he didn’t accept.

“I didn’t shoot him, I just shot _at _him!”

“He is not to be touched by anyone but me. Your overstepping, pretty baby. And no matter how pretty pretty _pretty _you are, I’ll kill you if you try and take away my toys,” the Joker said, that purr back in his voice. Jaehwan loved that purr, he’d missed it so fucking bad.

Jaehwan grinned, sliding back between his lovers’ arms as easily as breathing. He kissed Sanghyuk hard, drinking him in, _savoring _him. The Joker giggled against his lips, tossing his cane on the floor and holding the doctor’s waist with his _enormous _hands. Jaehwan hummed with happiness, with contentment. He had _missed _this. Nothing in heaven or hell could compare.

Sanghyuk’s hands roamed over his bare stomach, leaving burning trails of heat across his flesh.

“I really _really _really like this new style baby, very easy access.” Jaehwan’s back made contact with the wall and he moaned, his lovers’ mouth on his neck. His eyelids fluttered, stroking his lover’s soft green hair. “You taste like good cigars and better whisky,” he mumbled, delighting in his lover’s peel of laughter.

A throat was cleared, but neither of the men were paying the slightest bit of attention. “If you’re going to have sex, at least have the decency to shoot me first.”

“Hm? Oh no no no, baby boy isn’t that lucky.”

Jaehwan forced his eyes open, groaning as the Joker’s fingers dug into his hips. Then he was being twirled around, nothing more than putty in his lovers’ giant hands.

“You listening to me baby? You hearing me?”

“Yes daddy.”

The doctor met the Jokers dark, _dark _stare.

“Don’t overstep.”

And Jaehwan was falling backward, the lightest of pushes sending him tumbling out the broken window behind him.

♢♤♧♡♧♤♢

“Commissioner Kim.”

Wonshik spun around, the bat had approached without making a single sound.

“I’m not used to such frequent communications, what is it? Did you find something out about the Joker?” he asked, rolling his shoulders and slipping his hands in his pockets. As much as Wonshik enjoyed his and Batman’s little chats, he was an extremely busy man.

The bat hesitated, something that had never happened in all the time they had been acquainted.

“Yes, actually. He has a rather... unexpected new henchman. I think.”

“What do you mean you _think?”_

“I was caught. I don’t get caught, but he baited me and... it’s a long story. But our friend showed up before he could kill me, stopped him, and pushed him out of a window.”

“Pushed... he pushed his own henchman out of a window?”

“Listen,” the bat said, his gruff, deep, most likely digitally altered voice sounding oddly sympathetic. “I need you to go check on your doctor friend, Lee Jaehwan.”

Wonshik eyes narrowed, just slightly.

“Why?”

The bat tossed him a small piece of plastic and Wonshik caught it in one hand. On second look, he saw that it was a capped syringe. On third look, he saw that the label read _‘Property of Arkham Asylum’._

“What’s Sodium Thiopental?”

“A very fast acting and very strong tranquilizer. Doctor Lee injected me with it, tried to kill me, stuck his tongue down the Joker’s throat and then was pushed out of a window. I got loose but when I went to see if he was okay, he was gone.”

Wonshik laughed, he actually laughed. “Here’s the thing. You don’t know Doctor Lee but let me tell you that he’s a saint. Literally a _saint. _He’s the sweetest person on this planet and all he wants to do is help people. You’ve got the wrong guy.”

“I thought you might say that.”

“And another thing, the Joker tortured him and left him for dead, why the fuck would Jaehwan do _anything _to aid a man who caused him so much harm?”

The bat held out a stack of photos. Glossy, full page. “I pulled the security footage. That’s him, isn’t it?”

Wonshik stared down at the first picture. It was an ally, there was a guy leaning against a wall. In Jaehwan’s favorite shoes. This wasn’t possible. He flipped to the second, and it was _definitely _Jaehwan. He would know his best friends smile anywhere.

“This was the man who injected you with- what was it?”

“Sodium Thiopental,” the bat supplied helpfully, gesturing to the stack of photos. “You can see him doing it.”

He was right. Wonshik flipped through them. Jaehwan halfway down the wall, Jaehwan hugging the bat, Jaehwan in the bat’s arms, Jaehwan sticking a fucking _needle _in the tiny gap at the neck of the bats suit.

“This is... I need to go.”

The bat gave him a look of what could have been sympathy. It was hard to tell under the mask. “Go speak to him. See if you can get any information, the Joker found him surprisingly quickly. I think he’s having your friend followed and other than the window thing they seemed on good terms.”

“What _good _terms?! Did you not hear me when I said Joker tortured him?! I don’t call that _good_!”

“Look at the last picture.”

“No! Jaehwan wouldn’t do this he doesn’t have it in him to do something like-“

“Look at it!”

Wonshik glared at the bat for all he was worth, but he looked. “Upper left corner, it’s blurry but you can still see.”

The photo was of a brick wall, close up. Zoomed in. There was a window. Broken panes, only a few shards left in the frame. Wonshik could see the silk tiger embroidered on the back of his best friend’s bomber jacket. Could see the Joker’s green hair, the J tattooed on his cheek. Could see that they were...

“I have to go.”

Wonshik turned away, hurrying towards the rooftop door.

“I don’t like seeing him hurt innocent people, Doctor Lee was a good person doing good work.”

“He _is _a good person!” the commissioner shouted, not bothering to look over his shoulder before racing down the stairs. Wonshik went into autopilot, getting into his civilian car and taking the shortest route to his best friend’s apartment building. Driving. He was just driving. Driving was fine, driving was doable. _Just driving._

He knew the code to Jaehwan’s door, he came here often enough. Had been coming here for years.

“Jae! Where are you?!” the commissioner called, setting his keys in the little key bowl. “Jaehwan!”

“What?! Why are you shouting?!”

The tv was on, some anime Wonshik didn’t recognize of a kid with pink hair and antennae on his head. He stomped over to the couch and found his best friend, sprawled out and so _soft _looking in an old grey hoodie.

“Having a nice night in?”

“You seem agitated.”

“Using your doctor tricks on me again?”

Jaehwan sat up, switching his tv off and running a hand through his blonde hair. “No, I’ve known you long enough to realize that when you come into my living room and start yelling, somethings really upsetting you. It’s kind of obvious.”

“Tell me about this boyfriend you mentioned a few months ago, is he still around?” Wonshik asked, crossing his arms. The photos were gripped tight in one hand but maybe he wouldn’t need to use them.

Jaehwan blinked owlishly up at him. “I see him occasionally, just not as often anymore. He’s a busy man.”

“You see him tonight?”

“Why are you using _the voice?”_

“What voice?”

“Your interrogation voice.”

Wonshik paused, taking the last photo from the stack and handing it over. Jaehwan stared at it and Wonshik literally saw his eyes shutter over.

“I told you lots of people would like that jacket, I know you think it’s ugly but that’s no reason to put surveillance on everyone who owns it.”

The commissioner pulled the second photo. The one with the clearest shot of his best friends’ face. 

“Don’t try and tell me that’s not you. Go clubbing with your boyfriend tonight?”

Jaehwan eyed him. “I was shopping.”

“For what?”

“A present.”

“You expect me to believe that? You were at one of the Jokers clubs and seen _kissing _the Joker himself. Do you think I’m too stupid to connect the dots?”

“I didn’t actually go in, just hung around outside.”

Wonshik smacked the back of the couch, making Jaehwan jump.

“How long?”

“A while.”

“When you were still treating him?”

“Maybe.”

“God damn it, Jae!” the commissioner exclaimed, leaning down and bracing his hands on the armrest. “Do you realize I could have you arrested?! Theft, kidnapping, possession of drugs without a prescription, attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon?! I’m tempted to do it too!”

Jaehwan was quiet, just watching the commissioner work up a head of steam. “Not to mention being associated with a _known _criminal! Did you help him break out of Arkham? Was it you who gave him the gun?!” 

His best friend didn’t answer. “Tell me!”

“Who gave you these? If you had pulled them yourself, I’d be locked up already,” Jaehwan asked, holding up the photos.

“Who do you think?”

Jaehwan huffed, pouting his bottom lip and glaring out the window. “Stupid bat.”

“Why aren’t you taking this seriously?!”

“I have something of yours,” the doctor said, standing up and walking around Wonshik into the kitchen. “Jaehwan!” he shouted, but his best friend ignored him.

The doctor returned, holding something wrapped in a dish towel. “Thanks for letting me borrow it,” he said quietly, setting the object down in Wonshik’s open hand. The commissioner could tell what it was just from the weight.

“This is a gun.”

“Yes.”

“You _stole _my gun?”

_“Borrowed, _I gave it back. And it’s not like you missed it.”

Wonshik exhaled a sharp breath, setting his gun on the side table. “Listen to me Jae, if he’s blackmailing you into helping him, or threatening you, whatever it is we can take care of it. You just have to talk to me.”

“He’s testing me.”

The commissioner bent down, putting his hands on his best friends’ shoulders. “Jaehwan... if you need help, like medical help, we can get that for you, yeah? You went through some really traumatic stuff and no one would think any less of you for getting help.”

It was the only rational explanation Wonshik could think of for his best friends’ behavior. Jaehwan must have had some sort of psychotic break. Being locked in a room with the Clown Prince of Gotham day after day would negatively affect _anyone. _Not to mention getting his brain zapped for god only knows how long. Of course, Jaehwan would be traumatized.

“I don’t need therapy but it’s sweet of you to ask.”

“Look at me, gorgeous, I just want to help you but you’ve gotta _let _me help you.”

“I don’t need help, Shikkie. I need to prove to daddy that I’m good enough.”

Wonshik shut his eyes, pausing for a minute so he could stay calm and not start shouting again. Shouting wouldn’t be helpful.

“Why don’t we put you to bed? You don’t look like you’ve been sleeping, and some rest will do you good.”

Jaehwan looked back at the commissioner, his head tilted to the side. He nodded.

“So, you’re not going to arrest me?” the doctor asked as Wonshik tucked him under his covers. “No. We’re going to work through this together. I’ll stay on the couch and cook you breakfast tomorrow. We can make a plan, sound good?”

The doctor shut his eyes, snuggling against his pillow.

“Good night.”

“Good night.”

When Wonshik woke the next morning, neck stiff from sleeping on his best friends too-small couch, Jaehwan was already gone. If the commissioner thought he wanted the Joker dead before, it had _nothing _on how he felt now.

♢♤♧♡♧♤♢

Sanghyuk was out. There was nothing like _his _city. No place like Gotham. His kingdom.

He laughed, shifting into third and pressing the accelerator. He sped onto the bridge and gunned it into the streets of the Narrows, swerving around a garbage truck.

His men were somewhere behind him; it was tricky keeping up with his custom purple chrome Bugatti in their basic bitch sports cars. Sanghyuk didn’t care. He didn’t care about anything at all, never had never would. Not caring brought such a sense of inner peace.

“Outta my way mother fucker!” he shouted, rolling down the window and letting off a few shots at a Honda Civic that was taking up too much of _his _road.

An engine revving on his right caught the Joker’s attention. Ducati. A Ducati Diavel no less. Gen One. His baby was up to no good again.

Sanghyuk sped up, four-wheel drifting around a corner and watching his baby in the rear-view mirror. That was a nice nice _nice _bike, he wondered who his baby stole it from. Jaehwan pulled up alongside him, pretty _pretty _blonde hair whipping around his face in the wind. His baby had been trying so hard to get his attention, but Sanghyuk wasn’t in the mood.

He propped his chin on his palm, elbow on the window from so he couldn’t see his baby’s face. Jaehwan really needed to learn when not to medal.

Through the open window, the Joker heard his baby hiss in frustration before pulling out in front of him. Oh good, maybe he was leaving. Sanghyuk slowed down a little, but he raised an eyebrow when his baby flicked the bikes handlebars, so it slid along the road on its side.

Jaehwan swung up on top of it, riding the damn thing like a fucking surfboard until it came to a stop. He stood up, in the middle of the road, and started walking towards Sanghyuk’s rapidly approaching car with his hands balled into fists.

Sanghyuk thought about it for maybe three seconds. Thought about just running his baby over. It would solve a lot of problems for him, certainly. But at the last moment he rolled his eyes, snarling with annoyance as he slammed on the breaks. His car came to a stop, breaks probably smoking as Jaehwan kicked the hood with the toe of his boot.

“You you you you little _pain _in the ass,” he muttered, dropping his AK on the passenger seat and stepping out on to the pavement.

“I’ve done everything! Every _fucking _thing to prove how much I love you so why do you keep running away from me?! Daddy why won’t you just let me love-“

“Alright I got it, I got it,” Sanghyuk interrupted, holding his hands up in a gesture of surrender. A semi pulled up right behind Sanghyuk’s car and honked, but the Joker didn’t pay it any attention.

“Why have you been ignoring me?!” Jaehwan exclaimed, stomping his foot in a _frighteningly _adorable way. It was like watching a puppy try to intimidate a Rottweiler.

“You’re overstepping again, baby, what I did I say was gunna happen the next time you overstepped?”

“I don’t give a _shit!”_

“Okay, listen up doc. I do everything according to _my _own will. What _I _want. _My _plan. And you, pretty pretty _pretty _boy, aren’t part of that plan.”

His baby reached up to cup Sanghyuk’s face, his pretty pretty eyes shiny with unshed tears. “Just let me in, let me in and I promise I won’t hurt you, I-“

“Oh, you _promise _promise?” the Joker asked, chuckling as he took a step back and crossed his arms.

There was the sound of a car door slamming from behind him, but he kept his eyes fixed on his baby.

“Hey fucktard! Do you mind screaming at your twink somewhere that’s not the middle of the fucking-“

Sanghyuk was still laughing when Jaehwan grabbed the handgun he had tucked into his waist band, took aim over Sanghyuk’s shoulder, and shot the truck driver in the head without even blinking. He tossed the Joker’s handgun on the ground, staring at Sanghyuk like he was waiting for an answer.

“I was gunna say I wouldn’t do that if I were you, but-“ the Joker sighed, glancing at the dead man with his hands on his hips. A waste of good bullets was what that was, but his baby never did like interruptions.

When he turned back around, he was looking down the barrel of a _different _fucking gun. Jaehwan was pointing it at his forehead. Now things were getting interesting. Sanghyuk smiled.

“Don’t hurt me pretty,” he said, using a baby voice and raising his hands, “I’ll be your friend.”

Jaehwan didn’t flinch. “Do it,” he whispered, taking very slow steps forward and staring his baby down. “Do it, do it, do it, _do it.”_

“My _heart _scares you, but a _gun _doesn’t?”

“Do it!”

Sanghyuk thought he wouldn’t, Sanghyuk have bet he wouldn’t. Sanghyuk didn’t actually care, but still. When his baby pulled the trigger, the Jokers breathe hitched with _excitement. _Nothing happened. There was a pop, the way it should sound, but there was something fluttering in front of his face. A little flag stuck inside it barrel. _‘Bang!’_

“Oh, _oh _baby, that was fun,” he murmured, lowering his hands and nudging the gun away. Sanghyuk loved nothing more than fun. And he had almost been shot it the head! How much more fun could it get?!

“Would you have shot me if that was loaded?”

“Depends on my mood,” his baby replied, tossing away that gun as well and crossing his arms.

“I forgot how much _fun _you are!”

“Will you stop ignoring me now then?”

Sanghyuk grinned, reaching out and letting his baby snuggle against him. “I’ll do you one better.”

♢♤♧♡♧♤♢

Sanghyuk held Jaehwan’s hand tight, half dragging him up and up and up the stairs of ACE Chemicals main warehouse.

He didn’t do this often, had never done it in fact. Didn’t bring people here. Anyone. To his special place. But he was bringing his doc here. Maybe it would be therapeutic or some bullshit.

“Are you going to tell me what we’re doing here yet?”

Sanghyuk glanced over his shoulder, grinning down at his baby as they reached the final landing. “I’m letting you in.”

Jaehwan beamed, that pretty pretty _pretty _smile that _didn’t _make the Jokers heart sore. It _didn’t._

“I’ve got a question for you, baby,” he murmured, pulling the doctor to the edge of the platform.

“Anything.”

“Would you die for me?”

“Yes.”

The Joker clicked his tongue, tilting his baby’s chin up so he could look directly into his eyes.

“That’s too easy.”

Jaehwan blinked at him. It _didn’t _make Sanghyuk’s own eyelids flutter. It _didn’t. _Nothing about Sanghyuk ever fluttered.

“Would you... live for me?”

“Yes.”

_Aw _his baby sounded so earnest. “Careful baby, careful careful,” the Joker said, leaning in to whisper in Jaehwan’s ear. “Desire becomes surrender, surrender becomes power.”

He nipped at his baby’s earlobe, chuckling quietly at Jaehwan’s little squeak.

“Do you want this, baby boy?”

“I do.”

“You do? You want it, pretty?”

“Yes.”

“Say it.”

His baby paused. Sanghyuk slid his hands around his waist, squeezing a bit the way he knew always made his baby weak. “Say it. Say it, say it pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty...” he urged, chanting under his breath and nuzzling his baby’s temple.

“Please?”

“Oh… pretty boy... you’re so _good.”_

Jaehwan smiled, his cheeks squishing up in the most endearing way. The Joker grinned down at him, stepping back and flourishing his hand over the edge.

His baby didn’t hesitate, of course he didn’t. Jaehwan turned, his heels poised on the edge of the platform, and _fell._

Sanghyuk looked over, watching, breathes of excitement a short staccato as his baby fell and fell and _fell _until his little gymnast body landed in the vat of acid below with barely a splash.

With a contented noise somewhere between a giggle and a sigh, the Joker began to walk away. But... something made him hesitate. _Him. _The fucking Clown Prince of Gotham _actually _hesitated.

He had been intending to leave the doctor to melt into goo, simultaneously getting rid of an annoyance and pissing off that Commissioner Kim asshole. But... but... oh _fuck _it then, what was life without the chaos of a split-second change of heart?

Sanghyuk huffed, shrugging his jacket off as he turned back around. He dropped it on the platform, laughing as he leapt off the edge after his baby and plummeted into the vat.

Jaehwan gasped, breaking the acids surface as Sanghyuk pulled his baby into his arms. The doctor’s golden hair was bleaching, lighter, lighter, _lighter _to a platinum so light it was nearly white. The Joker looked around them, the soft blue of his baby’s’ jeans and pastel pink of his baby’s sweatshirt bleeding out from the fabric into the acid. The colors swirled around the two like paint being washed down a drain, staining his baby’s’ light locks pink and blue around the edges.

Jaehwan’s pretty pretty pretty eyes opened, looking up at the Joker through long, now almost translucent lashes. His red lips curved into that _smile, _giggling quietly and wrapping his arms around Sanghyuk’s neck. His hoodie was disintegrating, hanging off him in tatters, but the Joker honestly didn’t care. Why would he? He didn’t care about anything. He _didn’t._

“Daddy?” he giggled, tugging on Sanghyuk’s green hair. “You look like you fell into a giant puddin’ cup.”

His baby wasn’t wrong. This particular acid was so white it was nearly opaque, thick and sticky, with an undeniable resemblance to watered down vanilla pudding. “You look like you almost drowned in it then,” Sanghyuk replied, spinning his baby around in circles.

“Puddin’, Puddin’, Puddin’,” Jaehwan sing-songed, closing his eyes and kicking his legs like he was in a swimming pool. Sanghyuk watched the acid start to work, clearing all the unnecessary garbage from his mind. The stress and sadness and loneliness that was the affliction of human condition. Genuinely, a trip to the acid bath was a million times better than a spa.

“How you feelin, pretty baby?”

Jaehwan hummed, pulling Sanghyuk into a kiss that stole his breath.

“Better than ever!”

Sanghyuk smiled. Smiled wider. And then he began to laugh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *I use quotes or variations of quotes from the movies and the comics in this work, so if something sounds familiar, that's where its from*
> 
> COMMENTS AND KUDOS ARE LOVED <3
> 
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	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *Disclaimer*  
Here’s the deal. There are going to be quite a few other idols sprinkled around this fic and they are (for the most part) going to be killed off relatively quickly. Because that’s what hyuken/harley+joker do. Kill people. So, if they kill your bias or one of your favs, please don’t take it personally <3

Sanghyuk was sitting in his private booth in the VIP section of his favorite club. He actually owned this club, one of several, but it was his favorite of the lot. Had the most gold in it. Sanghyuk _liked_ gold.

He sat, knees apart, hands clasped atop the handle of his cane. Sanghyuk could feel the diamonds encrusting the cold metal beneath his fingers. They were precious, yes, but Sanghyuk’s eyes were fixed on something far _more_ precious.

Jaehwan was on the lower floor, just visible through the curtains of beaded crystal that divided the VIP from the rest of the club. In the center of the dance floor, winding his little gymnasts’ body around the metal frame of one of the platforms. That little gymnasts’ body was dripping jewels, black mesh bodysuit reminiscent of chainmail, gold embroidered diamond pattern on his see-through slip. Sanghyuk’s collar felt a little tight, he popped a button open.

“Your guest has arrived, Mr. J,” his right-hand man said, speaking just loud enough to be heard over the bumping music. Sanghyuk nodded once, not taking his eyes off his baby.

Out of the corner of his eye, Sanghyuk registered the tall guy with platinum hair coming around the end of the couch. Flanked by two of his own men of course.

“We finally meet.”

A hand was stuck into Sanghyuk’s face and then very quickly and very wisely retracted.

“He doesn’t shake hands, sit down. Have a drink.”

His right-hand man ushered the guy to the opposite couch, but for some _unfathomable_ reason, he didn’t stop talking. Just_ blah blah blah..._

“Listen, Mister J. On behalf of all of us street guys, I’m saying thank you. Just wanted to drop by and say it personally.”

_Blah blah blah...._ Sanghyuk watched his baby twirl and drop, that gorgeous fucking hair glittering in the flashing club lights.

“You’re making me good money, I’m making you good money-“

“Are you sweet talkin me... what did you say your name was?” Sanghyuk hummed, a smile curving up the corners of mouth. The guy looked mildly affronted, turning to stare out at the dance floor as he sipped a bourbon on the rocks.

“Chanyeol, Park Chanyeol, But as I was saying-“

Sanghyuk laughed, giving _Park Chanyeol_ roughly one third of his attention. He chuckled louder. “I love this guy," he said, addressing the booth at large, "He’s so intense.”

Guy took off a pair of shades, too small for his nice-looking face, and folded them up. His eyes were narrowed. Staring at the dance floor below. Sanghyuk watched him with mild interest.

“You’re a lucky man, Mister J,” Guy said, jutting his chin in Jaehwan’s direction. “He’s a bad one.”

The Joker’s lashes fluttered. He rolled his head, left. Right. Guy had the _audacity_ to come into _his_ club and talk about _his_ baby in front of him? Real smart move.

He lifted a hand, index finger extended and pointing to the dance floor. But he kept his eyes on Guy.

“Mm there he is,” he purred, standing and letting his cane clatter to the floor. That got Guys attention. Real quick.

“The fire of my loins... the arrow in my heart...”

Sanghyuk moved to the curtain. He put two fingers in his mouth and whistled, watching as his baby looked over, still wrapped around a pole. Jaehwan beamed, untangling his skinny limbs, hopping off the platform, and skimming through the crowd. Up the stairs. His lipstick was smudged. Sanghyuk wanted to smudge it worse.

Jaehwan didn’t bother with the final staircase, hopping up the short wall and sticking his head through the beaded curtain. So nimble. Guy knocked back the rest of his bourbon on the rocks with an audible gulp.

“Oh... come to daddy,” Sanghyuk purred, watching his baby's long legs swing up over the wall.

“Puddin,” Jaehwan hummed, giggling. He twirled into Sanghyuk’s waiting arms, winding himself around the Joker like a snake. Sanghyuk indulged his baby, just for a moment. He smelled like sweat and booze and jasmine and blood. He smelled fucking delicious.

“Listen, Hwannie, youuu,” Sanghyuk said in a mock serious voice, squeezing his baby's overly ample ass. That was a move of pure self-indulgence. “Youuu, pretty baby are my gift to this handsome fella.” He pointed at Guy, what was his name? Chanyeol? “You belong to him now.”

Jaehwan turned those pretty pretty _pretty_ eyes on Guy, looking him over with appreciation. Sanghyuk twitched.

“Well,” his baby hummed, dropping onto Guys lap. His pretty pretty _pretty_ hands ran up guys chest to rest on his shoulders. “You’re cute. You want me, mister? I’m all yours.”

Guy looked suitably nervous now, Jaehwan nipping at his jaw. Sanghyuk’s smile dropped away. His breath heavy.

“I don’t want beef with you, Mister J. This is your boy.”

“Oh, you don’t? You don’t want beef?” Sanghyuk replied, mocking.

“No beef, he’s yours.”

“No beef?”

Guy had apparently understood the scale of his fuck up, trying to back pedal. Stupid.

“Why? What’s wrong, you don’t like me?” Jaehwan squeaked, pressing a hand over his heart and expression indignant. He hopped off Guys lap, shaking out his hair. “Fine, no need to waste my time then.”

His baby collapsed on the couch Sanghyuk had vacated, stretching his bare arms up over his head.

“So, _no_ beef?” Sanghyuk clarified, running his hands through his dark green hair, “Are you enjoying yourself?”

“No, he’s your boy J,” Guy replied, obviously wary. Good.

“That’s right, _mine,”_ the clown prince of Gotham purred, smile returning and growing wider by the second. He pulled his custom purple revolver from his waistband and shot Guy in his nice-looking face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my favorite scene, more to come!


	5. Chapter 5

“How’d he get you out of the manor so early in the morning?” Wonshik asked, nudging Hongbin's shoulder. 

Hongbin gave him a smile that was pure exhaustion. “Attending business meetings is something I can’t avoid, unfortunately. Weapon manufacturing contracts are what puts food on my table.” 

Wonshik snorted.

The door to the conference room they were sitting in opened behind Hongbin and Wonshik looked around. 

“Gentlemen, good morning.”

The man that entered the room had a reputation that preceded him. Cha Hakyeon. Secretary of Metahuman Affairs and former campaign manager for Lex Luther. Widely regarded as one of the most frightening people to walk this hell planet and not shy about using that fear to his advantage. 

Wonshik got quickly to his feet. He didn’t attend meetings in the mayor's office often, but one didn’t simply _refuse_ a summons from Cha Hakyeon. 

“Nice to meet you, sir,” he said, extending a hand for Hakyeon to shake. There was a blink, a slight narrowing of eyes, but Hakyeon _did_ shake. 

“A pleasure. And you, Mr. Lee, look like you need a nap.” 

“I have coffee. It’s early,” Hongbin said, fraternity handsome face lightening in a second smile. Rich boys’ teeth flashing bright white. Wonshik could see how forced it was but he wasn’t sure if Hakyeon could.

“Well then, let’s get down to business.” Hakyeon moved around the table and sat at the head, setting his ceramic mug on the table beside a notebook and file folder. Everything neat. Everything exactly where it should be, perfectly aligned on the table. Hakyeon even used a real fountain pen. The ten-cent hunk of plastic he himself was using to write was inspiring feelings of painful inadequacy in Wonshik all of a sudden. 

Hakyeon steepled his fingers against his chin, elbows braced on the table. “Here’s the bottom line. I want Dr. Lee Jaehwan, or as he’s styling himself these days, Hwannie Lee, captured. Alive. I want him alive and I want him delivered to me all wrapped up and tied with a bow.”

Wonshik felt his blood run cold, even as Hakyeon's stare pierced him in the chest. 

“What about Joker?” he asked, fear rising in his throat and hands beginning to shake. This isn’t what he’d expected. Joker he’d expected, but not Jaehwan. Why did this man want Jaehwan? And worse, why did he want Jaehwan _alive?!_

Hakyeon scoffed, Hongbin's foot finding Wonshik under the table. Not kicking or anything. Just a gesture of comfort. Of support. They’d known each other since freshmen year at university, Hongbin was his first friend there other than Jaehwan. Jaehwan, who he’d taken baths within the kitchen sink when they were two years old. Jaehwan, who'd been Wonshik’s first kiss, under the bleachers in the gymnasium during their 8th grade dance. His childhood neighbor. His best friend. The love of his-

“Joker is nothing more than a nuisance. I’m putting together a... task force of sorts. Lee Jaehwan is smart, logical, he may be a sadist and suffer from manic delusions, but he’ll be more amenable to my terms than the Joker would be.”

Wonshik was struggling to breathe but Hakyeon kept talking. 

“He’s more dangerous than the Joker as well. More savage. Crueler. Those are the kind of traits I’m looking for.”

“Jaehwan is not _cruel,”_ Wonshik grit out, trying to cool the heat in his cheeks. Hongbin nudged him under the table again. 

“I am aware of your history with Lee Jaehwan, Commissioner Kim, I sincerely hope it won’t affect your ability to capture him,” Hakyeon replied. He popped the lid of his mug -or was it a thermos- open and sipped, face expressionless. 

“No, you don’t understand,” Wonshik insisted, setting his pen down and trying to copy Hakyeon's faux-relaxed position. “He isn’t cruel, he’s being coerced. Under compulsion, under duress. As soon as we get him away from the Joker, he’ll be fine. He won’t be of any use to you.”

The man across the table gave him a look that was cooler than death. “Were you aware,” he said, flipping the file folder open before him, “That Lee Jaehwan beat the man accused of killing his father to death? With a baseball bat? In the middle of a suburban neighborhood?”

Wonshik winced. He was very, _very_ aware of that fact. He’d overseen the case himself, saw the security footage from a neighboring residence, saw Jaehwan take a bat from the Joker’s hand and hit the man with it over and over and over until he was nothing more than a pool of bloody pulp. He’d seen Jaehwan wipe blood spatter from his cheek with a smile on his face and he’d seen Jaehwan kiss the Joker with the kind of fervor he’d never had for Wonshik. 

“The poor bastard was a gift from the clown prince himself, according to my intel. Joker doesn’t give people gifts, and yet, he gave one to Lee Jaehwan.” 

Hakyeon’s words sliced Wonshik like shards of glass but he kept his face straight. Barely. That murder, that particular murder, was an especially sore spot for Wonshik. 

He remembered when he’d first become a cop. How Jaehwan had begged him to reopen his father's case, to put the man responsible for his father's death behind bars so Jaehwan could have some closure. Find some peace. How he’d felt absolutely worthless as he looked into Jaehwan’s tear stained face and explained that, even with the rule of law on his side, there was nothing he could do. That the statute of limitations had run out. That Wonshik couldn’t bring Jaehwan the closure he needed no matter how much he wanted too. 

And now Han Sanghyuk, the Joker, had given Jaehwan what he needed. His father’s killer trussed up like a turkey in the middle of a dimly lit street and a choice between a bat or a gun.

“Recent string of murders aside, Dr. Lee’s character has been called into question before he ever met the Joker,” Hakyeon said, going right on talking like Wonshik’s soul wasn’t bleeding out. 

“What are you talking about?”

Wonshik’s' voice sounded hollow to his own ears but Hakyeon didn’t notice. Or, if he did, he chose not to comment. “Your friend apparently slept around to get his job. Before you try and contradict me, I have sworn testimony from the former head of Arkham Asylum.”

A sheet of paper was slid across the tabletop and Wonshik snatched it up with shaking fingers. A tremor in his hands. He scanned it quickly. 

_ ‘... Doctor Lee accepted requests for the performance of several sexual acts including but not limited to frottage, fellatio, and anal sex in exchange for a confirmed physician’s position at the Elizabeth Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane...’ _

“He even let the sick fool take pictures of him.” Hakyeon slid a photocopy of a Polaroid picture across the table as well. “And while I can admire Doctor Lee’s tenacity and determination, this information doesn’t paint the most flattering picture of his moral character.”

“You have- you have _no_ right to see this,” Wonshik snapped, tongue thick in his mouth, voice gruff. 

He stared down at the picture in his hands. Clearer than one might imagine, xeroxed cool toned colors that didn’t do his best friend justice. Jaehwan, when he was in the end of his Med school tenure, honey blond hair and expression serine, before work at Arkham had begun etching lines of weariness onto his perfect face. Kneeling on a red carpet, hands behind his back, miles of skin on display and only covered by his favorite leopard print briefs. An unfamiliar hand reaching from behind the camera to tug on his earlobe. 

“In fairness, I don’t think _you_ were ever meant to see it either, Commissioner Kim. Feel free to keep it if you’d like, I have more.”

Wonshik balled up the picture and stuffed it into his pocket, anger swelling in his chest. “What exactly is the _point_ of this slander?” he asked, ignoring Hongbin’s restraining hand on his knee. 

Hakyeon flashed a curve of his mouth that could charitably be called a smile. “Did you know he attacked and captured Batman? All by himself?”

At his side, Hongbin flinched. Wonshik didn’t blame him for that. Thinking of anyone crazy enough to actually go after the bat and smart enough to succeed? Wonshik couldn't think of many things more frightening than that. 

“Get to the point, Mr. Cha. I didn’t come all the way down here for story time,” said Wonshik. He felt the unpleasant pieces falling into place now, no matter how much he wished he didn’t.

Hakyeon gave him an appraising look. “Ruthless. Violent. Cunning enough to trap the bat with a borderline genius IQ. That is _exactly_ the kind of person I want under my control. And once I have him it’ll be as good as putting the Joker on a leash. I’ll have the only person Joker cares about under my control and how much of a threat do you think he’d be then? What do you think he’d be willing to risk with my proverbial blade to Doctor Lee’s throat?”

Regretting his decision to attend this meeting more with each passing second, Wonshik risked exposing a bit of information that he hoped was still confidential. Hoping to get a leg up in this discussion. 

“The Joker pushed Jaehwan out a window. He tortured Jaehwan and assaulted him, hooked him up to an electroshock device and left him for dead. Joker doesn’t care about him. Joker doesn’t care about _anyone,_ so if collaring the Joker is your end goal, you’re going to need to think of something else.

“You’re good at your job, delusions aside, Commissioner Kim, so I am going to give you an order,” Hakyeon snapped, clearly growing impatient. Wonshik honestly didn’t care. He couldn’t sit there and listen to people talk about his best friend this way. 

“Capture Lee Jaehwan and bring him to me by whatever means necessary. Enlist the bats help if that’s what’s needed, it’s worked for you before. I genuinely don’t care how, just take him and take him quickly.”

“Fine.” Wonshik spit the word like a curse and got to his feet. “I’d better get going so I can get to work.”

The sarcastic tone of his voice wasn’t missed, and he felt Hakyeon's eyes on him as he pushed in his chair. Wonshik just didn’t care. “I’ll see you later, Bin. Let’s get dinner soon.”

“Sure,” Hongbin replied, patting Wonshik’s forearm as he moved away from the table. 

“So, Mr. Lee, I have several schematics of a new type of tracking device one of my freelancers cooked up, and I need your resources to have them manufactured...”

Hakyeon's words trailed off and Wonshik shut the conference room door. Two burly looking security guards gave him the side eye as he went past but Wonshik ignored them. Ignored everything. The crumpled photo burning a hole in his pocket. 

He’d go to Jaehwan’s place and wait. He’d set up patrols around it already, obviously, but he knew Jaehwan. His best friend would miss the familiarities of his couch and his favorite coffee mug and his tattered bathrobe after a while. He’d come home. 

Jaehwan would have to go home, Wonshik thought, dragging in a desperate lungful of air as soon as he got outside. He could work from his computer for the time being. 

♢♤♧♡♧♤♢

Two days since the meeting and Wonshik was starting to get a bit stir crazy, posted up in Jaehwan’s apartment and drowning in work. 

He’d rewatched the security footage of every crime. Every murder. Every theft. He’d reread reports from all his officers that had been stationed to watch Jaehwan. Instructed to get as close to Jaehwan as possible, the officers reports were clear and concise. Jaehwan was being treated like criminal royalty. Jaehwan had two personal bodyguards that followed him everywhere if Joker wasn’t with him. Joker injured everyone that looked at Jaehwan twice. 

To Wonshik, those things spoke of captivity. Confinement, isolation, violence. The videos could be misleading. Jaehwan was a great actor, had always loved theater, and could put on a persona as well as most professionals. And he was smart as shit. Jaehwan would know that he should keep his captor happy until he had an opportunity to escape. But...

Four months was a _long_ time. And Jaehwan had been spiraling for several more months before he suddenly appeared at the Joker’s side. Wonshik was worried. He was so fucking worried he couldn’t stand it. There was no doubt in his mind that if he got Jaehwan away from the Joker, everything would be fine. He’d get Jaehwan some help, professionals to help him deal with all the trauma that Joker had caused. It was just a matter of _how_ to get him away. 

Wonshik clicked the next video on his queue, rubbing his temples with one hand as it began to play. 

He watched the grainy footage, Jaehwan stepping out of the back of a Range Rover, hands heavy with rings and his half-n-half hair artfully mussed. The oxfords on his feet had the smallest bit of a heel, but his suit looked relatively normal. Black and slim fitting. Until he turned toward the camera, that is, and Wonshik could see that his chest beneath was entirely bare. 

Then there was a quick jump in the footage and then the Joker was standing on the pavement as well. Han Sanghyuk was standing on the pavement. It always made Wonshik uncomfortable calling the Joker by his real name. Too familiar. Especially as he watched Jaehwan let out a soundless laugh and wind himself around the Joker’s torso. 

The sound of footsteps out in the hall drew Wonshik up short, body swelling with instant panic. He and his laptop had been stationed at the kitchen table, but he slammed it shut, jumping to his feet and backing up into the corner so the door opening would conceal his hiding spot.

“No, really, I’m fine. I just want to spend a few minutes alone and collect my stuff.”

Jaehwan’s voice. Wonshik’s pulse thrummed, listening as Jaehwan keyed in the door code. Then another voice, decidedly masculine. 

“At least let us sweep the place first. What if the bat set a trap for you?”

“You worry too much, Yunho, really! The bat doesn’t know where I live.”

The doorknob turning, opening a few inches. Enough that Wonshik could see through the crack between the door and the frame.

Two men in suits that Wonshik recognized from the footage he’d been watching. One with chocolate brown hair cut a bit short, maybe two inches taller than Jaehwan. And the other, an inch taller than the first with wavy hair the color of dark vanilla. The blonde spoke so Wonshik made an educated guess that the brunette was called Yunho.

“If something happens to you on our watch, mister J is going to skin us alive,” he said, shifting his weight to the other foot and eyeing the door. Wonshik hoped he was concealed deeply enough in shadow that the hall light wouldn’t reflect off his glasses.

“Relax,” Jaehwan hummed, patting the second man’s arm in a way that indicated comfortable familiarity. “Just- one of you guard the door and one of you go downstairs and watch the windows or something. I’ll be perfectly fine. Plus, daddy’s in the car, it’ll be great if he sees you actually looking like you’re working for a change.”

The Joker was here. In a car. 

With a small sigh as if admitting defeat, the first man, Yunho, abruptly turned and walked down the hall. Jaehwan pushed the door open the rest of the way and stepped inside, leaving the other bodyguard out in the hall.

Wonshik felt himself vibrating with nerves. He hadn’t been this physically close to his best friend in months. 

Jaehwan hadn’t noticed him and he shut the door with a click, just standing there for a heartbeat with his eyes closed. Only one guy outside. Wonshik could take one person even if he was unarmed, but still, it would be better to cause the least amount of alarm as possible.

Silent as cats, Wonshik stepped up behind his best friend and covered Jaehwan’s mouth with his hand.

Jaehwan’s reaction was instantaneous. His scream was mostly muffled by Wonshik’s palm, but he drove his elbow backward into Wonshik’s ribs. Writhing like a fish on a hook. Underneath the pain in his side, Wonshik felt a twinge of pride. He’d taught Jaehwan that move. 

“Jae, gorgeous, it’s just me, it’s Shik, it’s okay,” he hissed, pulling his friend away from the door so the sound of their quick struggle wouldn’t be overheard. 

Jaehwan licked Wonshik’s palm and he pulled back, wiping his hand on the side of his pant leg.

“What the _fuck_ are you doing here,” Jaehwan spat, grabbing Wonshik’s wrist and dragging him bodily into the bedroom. “Do you know how _ridiculously_ unsafe it is for you to be here?!”

Jaehwan was building up a head of steam, Wonshik could see it, whether from anger or fear or something in between. Wonshik was so relieved, seeing him standing there. Having genuine emotions and just seeming so_ Jaehwan._ Wonshik couldn’t help it. He gathered Jaehwan up in a bone crushing hug. 

“I’ve missed you so goddamn much.”

“You-“ Jaehwan shoved him away, smacking him on the shoulder and stalking over to his closet. “You need to stay here and wait until I leave. I’ll get them out of here as soon as possible but when you leave, I want you to never come back.”

Wonshik trailed after him, watching Jaehwan stuff his bathrobe (called it) and a few old T-shirts into a backpack. 

“Why shouldn’t I come back? I can get you out of here, out of _all_ of this! We can put you in a safe house until Joker is neutralized, we can get you help-“

Jaehwan dropped his bag on the floor and whirled, fire in his chocolate eyes. “Because you are going to get yourself killed, you fucking _idiot!”_ he whisper-shouted, voice scratchy with a feeling Wonshik had no name for. 

“I’ve _killed_ people, Shik, do you understand that? I killed people and I _liked_ it! I fucking loved it actually! And you jumping out at me like this when I came to have a moment of peace and quiet is really pissing me off and making me want to hit you, so I am just going to leave!”

“Jae, you aren’t safe!”

“Sure, I am! I’m really fucking safe, it’s everyone else that needs to watch out,” Jaehwan hissed, a smile curling his mouth and vanishing so fast that Wonshik thought he might have imagined it.

“You don’t understand! This really scary dude is after you, the _government_ is after you, they ordered me to take you in and they want you alive!” Wonshik insisted, sounding a bit hysterical even to his own ears. “By all rights they should want you dead! Taking you alive is so much worse, I don’t know what they want to do with you other than something about a task force-“

Jaehwan snatched a pillow off his bed and chucked it at Wonshik’s head, the commissioner barely having enough warning to dodge. “It’s not your job to protect me anymore, Shik! You have a whole fucking city to protect! And I should point out that the only reason daddy hasn’t killed you yet is that I told him not too!”

“Gorgeous, listen to me-“

_“Don’t_ call me that! You need to give up on me! For your own fucking safety, Shik, you need to let me go!”

Wonshik stared, really taking in Jaehwan’s appearance for the first time. Two-tone hair hanging across sparking eyes. Death pale skin and lips so red it looked like they’d been stained with wine. A chain of silver and diamonds around his throat. Designer hoodie torn at the neckline and flecks of gold polish chipping off several nails. 

Wonshik felt his stomach twist sideways. “I’m _not_ giving up on you. I won’t just sit by and watch you be abused like this. I can’t. I’d never be able to fucking live with myself.”

And it was true. Wonshik didn’t care that Jaehwan was being mean to him. Didn’t care that he was lashing out. He knew the man he’d grown up with, knew his best friends’ brain like the back of his hand. Jaehwan may be getting off on the crazy right now, but one day soon he was going to wake the fuck up and realize just how much shit he’d gotten himself into. And Wonshik would be ready for him when that day came. Ready and waiting with open arms and all of the love he could possibly give. 

“I’m _not_ being _abused,”_ Jaehwan snarled, throwing another pillow in Wonshik’s general direction. The commissioner was deeply grateful there was nothing harder within his best friends reach. “Just because you’re too blind to see that everything has changed-“

_Noises._ Not inside yet but outside, the bodyguards voice, and then what was unmistakably the Jokers. 

“Fuck,” Jaehwan hissed. He crossed the room in several very fast strides and grabbed Wonshik by the arm. Wonshik let himself be dragged into the closet, watched Jaehwan toss his pack out onto the bed, and didn’t protest as Jaehwan pushed him down to a kneeling position.

“You get in here and you stay. Shut the fuck up and don’t move, and when we leave, I want you to count to a hundred and then go out the back door into the garage, and I want you to go the fuck home.”

Wonshik blinked up at Jaehwan, struck entirely dumb. Confused and hurt. He didn’t understand why Jaehwan didn’t just let Joker kill him. Even if Jaehwan didn’t want Wonshik interceding, he still didn’t want Wonshik dead. That was _something,_ wasn’t it? A bead of proof that the real Jaehwan was still inside somewhere. 

“Don’t do anything stupid, lips zipped.”

And with that, Jaehwan flipped the light off and closed the closet door so only a thin rod of light was visible through the crack. 

Not a moment before time. The apartment door opened and Wonshik heard footsteps, watched Jaehwan snatch up his backpack and begin rifling through it. 

“Pretty baby? What’s taking you so long?”

Oh yeah. Jaehwan had left him in the car. Like a dog in a supermarket parking lot. 

The Joker appeared in the doorway, dark eyes narrowed, dark green hair shining like strands of emerald. Wonshik swallowed hard. One of the most dangerous men in the world was standing in Jaehwan’s bedroom. What kind of rabbit hole had they fallen through?

“I’m _angry,”_ Jaehwan damn near shouted, slamming his palm atop the coverlet and sinking to his knees. Forehead pressed against the side of the bed. 

Joker crossed to him, not touching, just standing there and staring down at Jaehwan with a look of detached curiosity. “You have so many feelings, pretty boy, it’s _fascinating._ What do we do about those pesky feelings?”

“Channel them. Let them out.” Jaehwan’s words were muffled by the mattress but they were audible enough. 

Wonshik agreed with that sentiment. Although he’d suggest channeling them into music or art. That probably wasn’t the way a maniac would choose to channel. 

“What are ya gunna do then, pretty baby? _Huh?_ What are you gunna _do_ about it?”

Jaehwan made a wordless little noise, stood up straight, and slapped the Joker across the face. Wonshik’s blood froze in his veins. Nobody _ever_ hit the Joker. Or if they had, they were long dead by now. What the hell was Jaehwan playing at?!

To Wonshik’s complete surprise, Sanghyuk-_ the Joker_ laughed. A quiet giggle that sent chills up Wonshik’s spine. 

“Oh, I’m _so scared,”_ he said, using a mock baby voice and poking Jaehwan in the chest. Antagonizing. “Is that all you got?”

They fell to scuffling, the bodyguard standing with his back to them in the door not even flinching as Jaehwan started trying to smack every inch of the Joker he could reach. And Joker just let it happen! He just stood there, laughing, as Jaehwan vented his frustrations. His frustrations about Wonshik being there, probably. 

Sanghyuk let it happen right up until he _didn’t._ One moment Jaehwan was trying to rip that green hair right off Sanghyuk’s scalp, and the next moment Sanghyuk had grabbed him and flung him against the bed like Jaehwan was nothing more than a rag doll. Joker. Not Sanghyuk. _Joker. _

“Pretty, pretty, _pretty,”_ Joker hummed, laughter drying up in an instant. “You and your _‘conquer me’_ feelings. Always so primal, pretty baby.”

Joker pinned Jaehwan on his stomach against the mattress, nipping at the back of his neck even as a quiet chorus of “Yes, yes, yes,” poured out of Jaehwan’s mouth. 

Wonshik was making very fast mental calculations. He didn’t have a weapon; his gun was still in the living room where he’d left it yesterday. But Jaehwan had lots of belts in here and enough rings that a punch with them on would be as good as brass knuckles. If Wonshik could move quietly enough, he could knock Joker out, deal with the guard and then choke Joker with a belt. Or just strangle him with his bare hands like he’d wanted too since he found Jaehwan strapped to that table in Arkham. But-

“You need to be put in your place, _huh_ pretty baby?”

“Yes!”

“Wanna be reminded of who’s in charge?”

“Yes, daddy, _please!”_

“Well, that’s a good thing pretty baby, because I’m _bigger_ than you and _stronger_ than you and _very_ much in charge.”

Jaehwan giggled. Wonshik gulped. 

A sharp slap to Jaehwan’s thigh and another nip to the nape of his neck made Wonshik wince. He couldn’t think of any worse form of personal torture than having to sit there in that closet and watch this happen. Wonshik wanted to scream and cry and run out of the fucking closet so he could beat the _shit_ out of this monster breaking his best friends mind. 

But- a thought hit him all of a sudden, watching the soles of Jaehwan’s shoes scrabble against the short carpet weave. What if he fucked up? What if Joker or the guard heard him move and they caught him before he could do anything? He wasn’t worried about himself, not in the slightest, but what would the ramifications be for Jaehwan? If Joker figured out that Jaehwan had hidden Wonshik from him, that they’d been talking in secret...

“Who do you love?”

“You.”

“Who?”

“Daddy.”

_“Oh,_ you love daddy?”

“Yes!”

Joker laughed and slowly stood up, Jaehwan bouncing to his feet with a smile. A smile that was foreign and familiar all at the same time. “And who does _daddy_ love?” he singsonged, slinging his arms around Jokers’ neck. 

_“Hmm,”_ Sanghyuk- _stop calling him that-_ Joker hummed, a thoughtful expression on his face as he hoisted a squealing Jaehwan up by the thighs. He sat on the edge of the bed, Jaehwan straddling him, hands roaming across Jaehwan’s lower back. “Daddy loves his baby.”

“Who?” Jaehwan parroted, smile growing with each passing second. 

“You, my Hwannie, my little monster.”

Jaehwan threw himself forward and attached his lips to the Jokers. Wonshik felt something deep inside him die. 

“Are you still mad, pretty baby?”

“Just mad for_ you.”_

The Joker snorted. 

When they finally left (Wonshik didn’t know how long he’d sat there in the dark, listening to his worst nightmares be realized), Wonshik counted to a hundred like Jaehwan had told him too, stuffed his laptop and gun back into his bag, and then exited out the buildings back door. 

He pulled the cellphone from his pocket and dialed a number, holding it to his ear. Dial tone... ringing... Wonshik prayed he would pick up-

_ ‘Hello?’ _

_ ‘Hey.’ _

A pause. 

_ ‘Shik, are you okay? You sound like you’ve been crying.’ _

Wonshik sucked in a breath, clicking his key fob and unlocking the car door. He tossed the bag on the passenger seat and slid inside. 

_ ‘About getting dinner, can we make it a drink instead?’ _

_ ‘Did something happen?’ _

_ ‘Yeah, I’ll tell you about it later. Are you at the manor?’ _

_ ‘Yes, come over. Taek is just getting ready to start cooking so you can have dinner and a drink, how does that sound?’ _

_ ‘Good, I’m on my way.’ _

_ ‘See you soon.’ _

_ ‘Thanks, Bin.’ _

Wonshik hung up the phone and dropped it in the cup holder, feeling around in his pocket. He’d smoothed the wrinkles from the photocopied Polaroid as best he could yesterday, meticulously folding it up again so Jaehwan was creased as little as possible. 

Shame and self-hatred _burned_ in his stomach as he stared at his best friend’s face. He hadn’t acted. Hadn’t done anything to save Jaehwan. All he’d done was make Jaehwan angry. He’d let his best friend be hurt right in front of him. It didn’t matter what they’d said, didn’t matter how much Jaehwan was feeding into the Jokers’ delusions, didn’t matter that they’d been laughing. 

Stockholm syndrome. That’s what it was. Sympathizing with his captor. 

With a sigh, Wonshik pressed the picture to his lips and slid it back into his pocket. 

He couldn’t get that drink fast enough.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jaehwan's mood swings give me whiplash lolol  
also, for anyone who knows the dc storyline, hakyeons character is based on Amanda Waller


	6. Chapter 6

They fucked like the world was going to end.

Breath urgent on his neck, Jaehwan tangled his fingers in Sanghyuk’s hair. Cheeks flushed, pressed up against the wall, Sanghyuk’s blunt fingernails digging into the skin of his thighs.

Elation _burned_ through him, panting against the fabric of Sanghyuk’s dress shirt. Feeling whole and complete and more loved than he ever had in his entire life.

“Puddin, harder,” he whined, trying to rock down against Sanghyuk’s thrusts, meet him halfway, take him deeper. It was difficult in this position, but he needed more. _Craved_ more, _longed_ for more. Jaehwan could feel Sanghyuk’s heart beating out the same thunderous rhythm as his own.

Jaehwan parted his lips to speak again but Sanghyuk quieted him, kissing him hard enough to draw a gasp from Jaehwan. His mouth was swollen, lips red raw from where he’d worried them between his teeth, but Sanghyuk tasted like ecstasy on his tongue and Jaehwan barely noticed the pain. He liked the pain, anyway, and he knew Sanghyuk liked it too.

He wrapped his legs around Sanghyuk’s hips and drew him closer. They both had so much clothing on. Jaehwan’s sweatshirt had slipped off one shoulder, so large it hung almost halfway down his thighs, the briefs he’d been wearing still tangled around one of his ankles. Sanghyuk had barely even managed to take his suit jacket off they’d jumped at each other so fast. Jaehwan was on him the instant he’d walked through the door.

Jaehwan _hated_ days like these, when Sanghyuk refused to bring him along to one deal or another for one reason or another. It was a subject to discuss, but later. They could talk about it later.

A long, low moan clawed itself from between his lips. Jaehwan felt Sanghyuk smile.

“Pretty pretty, baby baby,” Sanghyuk hummed, laughing against his mouth as he pulled Jaehwan away from the wall.

Jaehwan threw his own slight weight forward and began to drown in another long, sweet kiss. Sanghyuk barely stumbled at the sudden and rather chaotic movement, collapsing onto a well-placed armchair. Jaehwan’s legs straddled his lap, sinking back on to Sanghyuk’s cock and gasping at the new angle.

Letting his head drift backward, Jaehwan basked in the feeling of Sanghyuk’s fingers brushing the inside of his thigh. His own hands roaming across Sanghyuk’s taut stomach. Up to his shoulders, around the back of his neck.

Every touch set him aflame, every second of sweet surrender bringing him closer to the man he loved. Jaehwan whined as Sanghyuk thrust up into him, filling him with a warmth that spread all the way down to his toes.

Heart stuttering with pleasure and body twitching, Sanghyuk began to stroke him. Sweet agony, pace slow as melting ice.

“Fuck me, fuck me, _fuck me,”_ Jaehwan moaned, spine arching, Sanghyuk dragging his head backward by the hair and nipping at his throat. Languorous kisses being trailed down his chest and across his abdomen. Jaehwan shuddered. Anticipation sending him shaking, heat building in the pit of his stomach, Sanghyuk’s hands on his waist the only thing stopping him from toppling backwards onto the floor.

The world grew hotter and brighter and whiter, and Jaehwan screamed a wordless scream. Bracing his hands on Sanghyuk’s chest. Tremors of pleasure rocking him to his core. His entire body growing taut in the wake of his climax. Rigid and helpless in the face of that sweet afterburn.

Jaehwan collapsed forwards, heart pounding, purring into the crook of Sanghyuk’s neck. Soft and sated and almost delirious with happiness.

“Pretty boy,” Sanghyuk panted, combing his fingers through Jaehwan’s hair, “I have a surprise for you.”

_“Mm,_ lemme have it.” Jaehwan blinked his eyes open, staring directly at the enticing strip of skin at the side of Sanghyuk’s throat. He bit at the spot, weaker than he would have liked but still delighting in the sharp exhale that left Sanghyuk’s mouth in response.

“You gotta sit up.” Sanghyuk’s hands found Jaehwan’s shoulders and he pushed him away, not so much that Jaehwan felt the need to get off but enough that Jaehwan swayed at the sudden need to use his spine.

He watched Sanghyuk closely, watched his long, _long _fingers begin flicking open the buttons on his shirt. The high points of his cheeks were flushed, dark pupils blown wide, the word _‘damaged’_ inked at his hairline glistening with a faint sheen of sweat. Jaehwan surged forwards, tongue darting out so he could taste that hint of salt on Sanghyuk’s skin.

Jaehwan had gotten good at that. Giving into his urges without second guessing himself. Letting convention fall away from his mind and just _indulging. _Giving no thought to consequences when he didn’t want to. The acid was good for that, clearing the mind of useless clutter. Why should he be self-conscious? If he wanted to lick the sweat off Sanghyuk’s forehead then he would, and he’d love _every_ second of it.

Sanghyuk giggled but shoved him back again. “Look at your surprise,” he hummed, pulling the front of his shirt open.

Jaehwan looked. Blinked. A sheet of what appeared to be plastic wrap was stuck to his chest with medical tape, but underneath it...

“For me?” Jaehwan screeched, tracing the freshly finished tattoo with the tip of his finger. A diamond like the kind one would find on a playing card. Maybe two inches long and one inch wide. Lines of pitch-black ink. There was an arrow through the diamond, the arrow tip shaped like a minuscule heart. And in the diamonds center, in Jaehwan’s own handwriting and etched on Sanghyuk’s skin in blood red ink, two letters. _HL._ His new initials.

Jaehwan had drawn that on him the night before, just doodled it, sitting on Sanghyuk’s stomach and using his body as a canvas before they’d fallen asleep. He’d never thought Sanghyuk had ulterior motives in asking him for a drawing.

“For you.”

Sanghyuk was the one watching Jaehwan now, calculating, trying to understand the reaction he was getting. Jaehwan wanted to meet his gaze but he couldn’t drag his eyes away from the tattoo. He’d gotten a stylized _‘J’_ on his arm maybe six weeks ago, wanting something of Sanghyuk to keep with him always. Even when he was left behind in the hideout with nothing for company but his omnipresent bodyguards and loneliness. But he’d never expected...

“Why?” Jaehwan asked, bodily shoving Sanghyuk against the chairs backrest so he could get a closer look. He wanted to peel away the plastic so he could run his fingers across the fresh ink but had enough presence of mind to stop himself. Not wanting to ruin it.

A finger under his chin raised Jaehwan’s head. “You’re my heart,” Sanghyuk breathed, a perplexed expression on his face like he couldn’t understand his own words.

Jaehwan felt tears spring in his eyes at that, doing nothing to stop them rolling down his cheeks the way he once would have. Crying from the simple joy of wanting and being wanted in return. Looking up into Sanghyuk’s eyes, then, Jaehwan knew he was looking into his forever.

“That’s why I make you stay here sometimes,” Sanghyuk continued, swiping a tear from Jaehwan’s cheek and licking it off his finger almost absently. “You make me vulnerable. You’re my weak spot. If anything happened to you, I’d burn Gotham to the fucking ground.”

Soft warmth blooming in his chest, Jaehwan took Sanghyuk’s face in both his hands. A smile spreading across his face. Unbridled affection burning in his heart.

“Let’s burn down Gotham together,” he replied, claiming Sanghyuk’s mouth in a kiss that was eagerly returned.

♢♤♧♡♧♤♢

Wonshik woke up in an unfamiliar bed with dried tears on his cheeks and an old friend under one arm. As well as a mild hangover.

His mouth felt like sandpaper and his head ached. Remnants of memory from the night before trickling back. Drinking whisky in Hongbin’s study, pretending they were posh gentlemen and laughing at the ever-increasing ridiculousness of the other’s antics. Hongbin hugging him as he cried. Him taking Hongbin to bed.

This had been a mistake. A really fucking _enormous_ mistake. 

Hongbin made a little snuffling noise and Wonshik turned his head. Watching his friend surface from sleep. Hongbin was so lovely, both inside and out. A beautiful man with a kind heart. But-

“Morning,” Hongbin grumbled, rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands and sighing.

Wonshik forced a smile onto his face, hoping it wouldn’t ring false. “Hi.”

He was terrible at morning after’s. Best get right to the point.

“Bin, listen,” Wonshik began, watching his friend roll out of bed. “This was fun, truly, and I appreciate you taking the time to deal with my issues but going any further wouldn’t be fair to you. Not with how I feel about-“

“Oh, please for the love of _god,_ relax,” Hongbin interrupted, fishing a T-shirt out of a drawer and pulling it over his head. He took out another one and tossed it to Wonshik. “I’m not looking for a boyfriend. Too busy to deal with that many feelings. _Much_ too busy.”

A sigh of relief escaped Wonshik and he scrubbed at his face for a moment, trying to banish the alcoholic haze from his head, before donning the proffered garment. The cotton was soft on his skin and it made him feel a bit less frantic.

“Anyway, I know where your heart lies, Wonshik. I’m not an idiot. This was just a bit of fun, that’s all.”

Wonshik felt his heart sink at the reminder. Where his heart lay. _Stupid._ He was _so_ fucking stupid.

“You know my brain doesn’t work that way, Bin, I’m sorry,” Wonshik murmured, wanting nothing more than to drag the covers back over his head and hide. He _hated_ hookups, had always hated them. Didn’t understand how people could just detach from something like that. And with a friend, no less.

Wonshik liked Hongbin, he really did. Hongbin was a fantastic friend to him, put up with his emotional bullshit, was always there to make Wonshik smile. And Wonshik had treated him like he meant nothing. Guilt surged in Wonshik. Cold and black and noxious as poison.

“You had a rough day, Shik, a rough couple of months actually. I’m not mad at you or hurt and I don’t expect anything from you just because we slept together,” Hongbin replied, coming back over and sitting on the edge of the bed now that he was fully dressed. He took one of Wonshik’s hands, trying to comfort. “How can I make you feel better?”

“No,_ I’m_ the one that needs to make _you_ feel better,” Wonshik whined mournfully, yelping at the sharp smack to his shoulder. “Would taking me to dinner make you feel better?”

Wonshik could hear the humor in Hongbin’s voice and he lowered his hands. Knowing exactly how pathetic he must look. “But I don’t love you, I mean I _do _love you but not like that, and I don’t want to lead you on or mistreat you because you deserve better than that!” he pleaded, needing Hongbin to understand how much of a shit human being he was.

“It’s honestly too early for me to deal with this much stupidity,” Hongbin groaned, slumping over so his forehead was pressed to Wonshik’s shoulder. Wonshik wrapped him up in a hug on instinct, enjoying the comfort of just sitting there and holding a person. Even with the guilt churning in his stomach. Holding Hongbin was nice.

“I know you don’t love me Shik, I’m not asking you too. But does that mean you can’t take me to dinner?”

“I guess it doesn’t,” Wonshik said, cursing himself for a fool even as the words left his mouth. Maybe just a friendly dinner wouldn’t be so bad. They’d gone to dinner before. Just friends. Maybe he could forget that they’d been together like this.

_‘You need to give up on me! For your own fucking safety, Shik, you need to let me go!’_

The problem was that Wonshik was shit at forgetting.

They _did_ get that dinner.

And then _another._

And _another._

And Wonshik was learning about being casual. Just spending time with a person who actually seemed to like the attention Wonshik showered him with. Who would smile when Wonshik kissed his cheek and make disgusted faces when Wonshik gave him compliments.

Being around Hongbin was _easy._ It was nothing like spending time with Jaehwan. Jaehwan who was so soft and always needed so much from Wonshik, even when he gave barely anything in return. And despite the fact that Wonshik had never wanted anything from Jaehwan other than to simply bask in his light, being with Hongbin was like a breath of fresh air. Hongbin, who could take care of himself, who was never afraid of the affection Wonshik gave him. Who never pushed Wonshik away.

“Bin,” Wonshik said, on the night of their fifth date. Holding Hongbin’s hand across the table as they ate a delicious home cooked meal curtesy of Taekwoon. Hongbin preferred to stay in and Wonshik couldn’t blame him. If he had a face as easily recognizable as Hongbin’s he’d want to stay in too. “I know we usually uh, leave work at the door kind of thing, but-“

“Get it out, whatever it is, otherwise, you’re going to be pouty and introspective all night,” Hongbin interrupted, giving Wonshik’s hand a little squeeze. Wonshik managed a tired smile.

“It’s Joker. Joker and, you know...”

“I know, Shik, I was in the meeting with you. Is he still refusing to talk to you?”

Wonshik closed his eyes for a heartbeat, not wanting to ruin their date when it was only barely halfway through. But Hongbin was easy, he didn’t get upset if all Wonshik’s energy wasn’t focused on him. Better to just say it and then they could get back to regularly scheduled programming.

“It’s not that he’s _refusing_ to talk, he hasn’t given me a chance to even try. And Cha Hakyeon has been breathing down my neck for almost a month now and I just- just _can’t_ do that to him, Bin. I can’t hand my oldest friend over to most likely be killed when I know none of this is his fault.”

“Have you thought about asking Batman for help? I mean, you two handled Joker pretty easily when you worked together before, or that’s what the paper said anyway.”

“No, and I’m not going to,” Wonshik replied firmly, shaking his head. “It’ll make me seem like a coward.”

“You _are_ a bit of a coward.” There was a glint if humor in Hongbin’s eyes when he said it and Wonshik knew it was true, but- “I won’t ask the bat. He wouldn’t help me hide Jae anyway, he’d probably give Jae to Hakyeon without a second thought.”

Hongbin hesitated, the look on his face telling Wonshik he wasn’t going to like the reply.

“Would that really be the worst thing in the world?”

“Yes,” Wonshik said flatly. It would be the _worst_ thing in Wonshik’s world, Jaehwan getting taken away. Knowing he was alive and in the city was something at least. But Jaehwan gone? Jaehwan imprisoned? Jaehwan dead? No. Wonshik _couldn’t_ handle that.

“Wonshik, he’s _killed_ people. Like _several_ people. Not to mention all the robbery and assault and violence-“

“That’s not _him,_ it’s _Joker._ He’s just Joker’s puppet,” Wonshik snapped, regretting his harsh tone as soon as he spoke. “I’m sorry, it’s not your fault.”

“It’s not _your_ fault either,” Hongbin said softly, patting the back of Wonshik’s hand. “You never know, maybe Mr. Cha approached Batman directly. Maybe you won’t have to do anything at all.”

♢♤♧♡♧♤♢

“You ready baby?”

Jaehwan looked away from his mirror, cherry lipstick smearing across the corner of his mouth as he turned his head. Not that Jaehwan cared much about lipstick, or anything really. Why should he care about lipstick when Sanghyuk was standing there, plumb velvet smoking jacket, hair combed off his face in Jaehwan’s favorite way, Jaehwan’s old silver band on his ring finger.

“We married now?” he asked, sauntering over to Sanghyuk in the most exaggerated manner he possibly could.

Jaehwan knew he looked good. Tight leather leggings and one of Sanghyuk’s button-downs on, open halfway down his chest, a new diamond chain that Sanghyuk had got for him hanging against his sternum. And Sanghyuk seemed to agree, if the handful of Jaehwan’s ass he grabbed was any indication.

“You wanna be married? Let’s get fucking married.”

With a shrill giggle, Jaehwan went up on tiptoe and stole a kiss, traces of his lipstick remaining on Sanghyuk’s mouth after he pulled away.

“You wanna do it now?”

“Sure, pretty boy, let’s get married at the club.”

Jaehwan pouted, bottom lip jutting out and big eyes as round as dinner plates. “No,” he said, slipping his arms around Sanghyuk’s waist, “I want a real wedding in a cute little church, and then I wanna go home with you to our cute little house with a white picket fence and our cute little kids and cute little dog.”

Sanghyuk laughed out loud but he cupped Jaehwan’s cheek, thumb drawing over the ‘rotten’ tattoo inked at Jaehwan’s temple. “Whatever you want, baby, we can get a dog and a house and a fence and get married in a church as soon as Batsy dies. Not sure about the kids, don’t really like kids. But everything else.”

“Deal?” Jaehwan pressed the pad of his thumb to Sanghyuk’s lip and Sanghyuk gave it an affectionate nip.

“Deal.”

They fell into a car, Jaehwan didn’t even bother checking to see which one, his two very overprotective bodyguards Yunho and Changmin sitting in the backseat. This wasn’t how it usually went down. Normally one of them would be driving and Sanghyuk would be undressing Jaehwan in the back. But not tonight. Tonight, Sanghyuk wanted to drive.

Sanghyuk slid his seat as far back as it could go, making room to accommodate Jaehwan on his lap and Jaehwan happily scooted over. Settling so they were chest to chest, Sanghyuk’s arms around him. One hand was on the steering wheel and the other was on the gearshift, but the pressure of his forearms on either side of Jaehwan was enough just then.

Jaehwan gave Yunho, who was directly in front of him now, a cheeky little wave and got one in return. He loved his bodyguards, had learned to think of them as family. Like big brothers almost.

“Hold on tight, baby,” Sanghyuk said, giving Jaehwan roughly half a second to cling on to him like a baby monkey before he hit the gas.

Jaehwan squealed, giggling as he saw both his guards frantically snatch up the grab handles on the roof, twin expressions of mild alarm on their faces. Jaehwan fancied himself to be a good driver. A bit fast, maybe, but with good steering control and familiarity with the feeling of the road. But Sanghyuk was something else. Sanghyuk drove like they were running for their lives. Jaehwan _adored_ it.

They basically flew up the ramp from the underground carpark to street level, Jaehwan shrieking with joy and Sanghyuk’s laughter ringing in his ear, the sound of the engine whining as background accompaniment.

Jaehwan let his mind wander, swimming with a mixture of adrenaline from the speed and oxytocin from feeling Sanghyuk against him. His Sanghyuk, his Puddin, his _savior._

Where would he be right now if Sanghyuk hadn’t taken him to ACE Chemical? If Sanghyuk hadn’t shown him what it was to really, _really_ live.

Probably still trying to cure murderers at Arkham, if Jaehwan had to guess. He may have even finally caved and let Wonshik date him by now. Jaehwan was twenty-five, in his bland little mind it was time to start settling down. And Wonshik wouldn’t have been bad, Jaehwan _did_ love him. _Still_ loved him, even as stupid as it was. But now, Wonshik made Jaehwan feel _average,_ talking to Wonshik made Jaehwan feel like something was _wrong_ with him and that wasn’t the case. Jaehwan had never felt freer, righter, in his entire life. And he had Sanghyuk to thank for that.

“I love you so much, Puddin,” Jaehwan breathed, running his nails down the side of Sanghyuk’s cheek. Grinding against him. Pressing a lipstick kiss to his pulse point. This was another thing Jaehwan had learned, to stop trying to control his urges.

“Baby, I’m driving,” Sanghyuk nuzzled Jaehwan’s forehead. Jaehwan felt him shift down, the car slowing a bit and turning down the Main Street through downtown. They were heading to The Narrows, but the bridge was still maybe two minutes away by Jaehwan’s estimation.

“Stop driving then.”

One of Sanghyuk’s arms came around Jaehwan like a seatbelt as he slammed on the breaks. Pulling the car to a dead stop next to the curb with a screech of tires.

“Get out,” he snapped, both of Jaehwan’s bodyguards stepping out of the car lightning fast. They moved around to stand with their backs to the windows but Jaehwan had stopped paying attention by that point. The car was in park and Sanghyuk’s hands were on his body and Jaehwan felt himself letting go.

“You’ve never had a problem with driving before, distracted?” Jaehwan kept his voice playful, dragging his hands through Sanghyuk’s hair. Holding his head against the headrest. Laying a series of featherlight kisses to his lips.

“Letting you die would be such a bummer, pretty baby. I don’t fuck with bummers.”

Jaehwan grinned. “Tell me the real reason.”

It was just like that between them sometimes. Like pulling teeth. But nobody knew Joker like Jaehwan did. Not a soul alive knew Sanghyuk better.

“Easy, doc.” Sanghyuk gave Jaehwan’s waist a squeeze, black eyes glimmering with mirth despite the danger in his tone. He yanked Jaehwan’s head back, sucking a mark into the skin on his throat. Biting sharply at Jaehwan’s exposed collarbone. Jaehwan moaned under his breath.

“Tell me,” Jaehwan repeated, head lolling to the side and letting Sanghyuk support him. He could feel the steering wheel brush against his back.

Sanghyuk growled against the underside of Jaehwan’s jaw. “Because I love you. You make me weak, you’re the chink in my armor, and I _still_ love you.”

That was what Jaehwan wanted to hear and he giggled-

Something landed on the room of the car, Sanghyuk pulling off him with a growl, hands going to the gearshift. From outside, Jaehwan’s bodyguards started shooting but both went down with darts in their necks after only a few seconds. Only one person wouldn’t kill the Joker's henchmen on sight. _Batman._

“Fuck off, Batsy!” Jaehwan shouted, pulling the gun from Sanghyuk’s underarm holster and shooting upwards, Sanghyuk hitting the accelerator pedal like it owed him money. The car leaped forwards, racing down the street at what felt like 80 mph. Jaehwan wasn’t sure, he couldn’t see the speedometer. Whatever the number was, it was definitely over the metropolitan speed limit.

Jaehwan swayed on Sanghyuk’s lap as they turned a corner, but he rolled the driver’s side window down and peeked out. Sure enough, the bat was perched on the roof. Stuck there like an overgrown leech. His stupid mask hiding that stupid face and stupid cape flying behind him in the wind. Jaehwan took another shot but the bullet went wide. “You’re _ruining_ date night!”

“Hold on, baby,” Sanghyuk shouted, dragging Jaehwan back inside the car with a loud laugh. “I know how we can lose him!”

Jaehwan aimed through the roof again, this time trying for the spot he knew the bat was, but Sanghyuk started laughing harder before he got the chance to fire more than twice. “For real, Hwannie! Hold on!”

A quick look over his shoulder told Jaehwan everything he needed to know. The bridge. He screamed, dropping the gun and clinging to Sanghyuk for all he was worth. “No, Wait! Puddin! I can't swim!”

Jaehwan’s words ended in an ear-piercing shriek, but they came too late. Sanghyuk didn’t have enough time to hit the brakes. There was a frantic _“Oh shit!”_ from his partner and Jaehwan squeezed his eyes shut, screaming wordlessly as the car broke through the barrier and plunged into the ice cold water of Gotham harbor.

♢♤♧♡♧♤♢

Hongbin's head broke the surface of the water and he gasped for breath, clutching the lifeless body of Hwannie Lee in his arms. Or, not _lifeless_ per say, but he _was_ unconscious and had other possible injuries Hongbin hadn’t found yet.

His suit was surprisingly light and helped with buoyancy, so it was no struggle getting Hwannie back to shore. Joker, he’d left down there. Joker could get himself out of it. He always did in the end.

Hwannie wasn’t all that heavy either, at least not once they were back up on dry land. But Hongbin knew that already. He’d rescued Hwannie from a couple of alley thugs and gotten captured for his trouble.

Wonshik was the only reason Hongbin was there. His not-boyfriend. His _incredibly_ soft and kindhearted not-boyfriend. His not-boyfriend who would _never_ have the strength to arrest his own best friend, no matter how many despicable things Jaehwan did. So Hongbin had decided to take care of the problem himself. He hadn’t been lying before, Cha Hakyeon _could_ have approached him, or batman, privately without Wonshik ever having been informed. He hadn’t but Wonshik didn’t need to know that. This was a mercy.

Hongbin lay Hwannie across the hood of the bat mobile and pinched his nose, administering mouth to mouth to make sure that the man was still alive. He breathed air into Hwannie’s lungs once, twice, three times-

A tongue licked at his and Hongbin jumped back, just in time to dodge the kick Hwannie aimed at the back of his head. He rolled backwards off the hood with a crazed laugh, pink and blue hair plastered to his forehead, sopping clothes clinging to his body like saran wrap.

“You _stupid_ fucking-”

Hwannie took a step forward but Hongbin had been ready, a well-aimed tranquilizer dart protruding from his neck. He crumpled to the ground with a soft little sigh. Hongbin moved toward him slower than before, just in case he was faking, but satisfied that the man was truly unconscious, Hongbin scooped him up and settled him in the bat mobile’s passenger seat.

Now, to hand Hwannie over to Cha Hakyeon and pray to every god Hongbin knew that Wonshik wouldn’t hate him for this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know someone is going to criticize me for humanizing the joker too much so I apologize in advance. Also I didn't want to tag Rabin up until last chapter since I hadn't fed y'all any Rabin yet and I didn't want it to come off as clickbaity. This is where the plot starts to go a bit off-script from the movie plot but I hope you liked the chapter anyway!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy birthday Gramzzi <3

Jaehwan woke slowly. His entire body ached something fierce, mouth felt like it had been stuffed with cotton balls, and a swarm of very angry bees were buzzing inside his head.

He was about to groan but swallowed the noise, slowly realizing that the like _click click click_ he could hear was... a shudder sound? Someone was taking pictures?

Something hard was pressed along the length of his body, the ground if he had to guess, but light was trying to seep through his eyelids. Bright lights. _Really_ fucking bright.

Jaehwan kept his eyes shut, trying to filter in sound through the ringing in his ears. What the fuck... clinking metal maybe? Distant shouting? Footsteps, heavy, like the noise chunky utility boots made?

And then lighter, more purposeful footsteps. Walking in Jaehwan’s direction. Jaehwan tried tensing each of his muscles to make sure nothing was torn or broken, lying completely still as the person came to a stop right beside his head.

“I thought I saw his eye twitch, are you sure he’s out cold?” and icy voice asked, melodious and soft but not lacking that razors edge that chilled Jaehwan to the bone.

“Yes, he should be unconscious for another hour at least-”

Jaehwan moved as fast as his befuddled brain would allow, arm shooting out and snatching at the person's ankle. He heard them drag in a breath of surprise but Jaehwan was already on them, eyes blinded by white studio(?) lights and body shaking from whatever chemical had been pumped through his veins. The person he’d tackled turned out to be a man, wearing a beautifully cut three-piece suit and eyes like knife cuts.

The man had an aura of menace, let there be no mistake on that count, but Jaehwan ran with a bad crowd these days. He encountered dangerous people daily. Was a dangerous person himself. This man didn’t frighten him, not one fucking bit.

“Who are you?!” he snarled, ignoring the sound of approaching footfalls and pressing his forearm against the man's windpipe. The man never even flinched. “Where am I?! Why are you taking my picture- _ahh!”_

Jaehwan’s mind blanked out for a split second, hissing as electricity buzzed from his toes to the top of his head. Had they _tased_ him?! What the fuck-

“Take your filthy hands off me, fuckers!” he screamed, hands gripping his biceps like vices and dragging him away from the well-dressed man. Aftershocks of pain sent his fingers twitching, mind flashing back without his permission. Strapped to a table with electrodes on his temples. Shock after shock after shock after- _no!_ He’d passed that test, he could sure as hell pass this one.

Jaehwan managed to look down at himself as his hands were cuffed behind his back. These lunatics had dressed him in the most fuck ugly bomber jacket he’d ever seen, stuck a pair of creepers on his feet that were a size too small, and- “What in the seven circles of hell are these?!” he exclaimed, jutting out his hip to indicate the shorts (calling them shorts was generous but whatever) and trying to kick one of the creeps holding him.

The well-dressed man didn’t even acknowledge that Jaehwan had spoken. “Take him to cellblock three,” he said, talking right over Jaehwan and following slowly as the men started dragging Jaehwan from the room. The room, it was a room, maybe twenty feet by twenty feet, cameras everywhere, and a giant green screen. That’s where Jaehwan had been lying before, on the green screen. What kind of crazy shit were these maniacs up too- “Hey! Did you say cellblock!? Is this a prison?!”

Again, Jaehwan got no answers. For lack of anything else to do, he began thrashing in his restraints and screaming at the top of his lungs. And it was very satisfying right up until someone coldcocked him with a pistol. Or a handgun. Or it could have been the butt of a rifle, Jaehwan didn’t know and frankly, he was way past the point of caring.

Sunburst impressions bloomed across his field of vision. Inside of his head ringing like a gong from the impact of hard metal against his skull. His legs gave out for the briefest of moments, but his captors just hoisted him up and dragged him along the dank hallway. Mildew perfume permeating his nostrils. Ground slippery under his unsure feet.

‘Cell block three’ turned out to be a huge room with a balcony ringing the perimeter and a ten by ten cage in the center. A cage into which his captors deposited Jaehwan none too gently.

“Let me out of here!” He shrieked, reaching through the bars on the locked door and trying to reach the well-dressed man. Wishing he could tear the man to pieces. Rip him apart with his bare hands and yank his head clean off his shoulders. Hear the satisfying crunch of the man’s spine shatter under his feet. “Daddy is going to rescue me and burn this hell hole to the fucking ground, you hear me?! He is going to fucking pulverize you if I don’t get my hands on you first!”

The well-dressed man snorted -he actually had the audacity to _snort with laughter _at the threat of Sanghyuk’s wrath- and crossed his arms. “Your _daddy _isn’t coming for you Hwannie. Nobody is coming for you.”

“You wanna fucking bet?!” Jaehwan giggled, making another grab for the man and missing. The entire length of his body now pressed up against the cold steel bars.

“Sure, I do.”

The man pulled a phone from his jacket pocket, clicking around the screen as cool as you please. “Joker thinks you’re dead. The whole of Gotham thinks you’re dead, actually.”

He held out the phone after a moment more, just out of Jaehwan’s reach but close enough for Jaehwan to read the words. See the picture.

_The Gotham Times_

_'Rising star of Gotham’s criminal underbelly Hwannie Lee (25) was found dead today, after an altercation with the Batman on Narrows _ _bridge. Cause of death appeared to be blunt force trauma to the head, presumably as result of a mugging gone wrong, indicated by the lack of jewelry the criminal is notorious for wearing. A full autopsy will be performed to try and find the cause of his criminal insanity. It is very likely that Commissioner Kim Wonshik and the rest of Gotham PD aided Batman in the altercation and we can only say that we are grateful to the brave men in our police department. The people of our fair city can breathe easier with one fewer lunatic on the streets.'_

And under that, a picture of Jaehwan. Lying in an alley Jaehwan had never seen before, bomber jacket and stupid shorts his only decoration, a conspicuous lack of diamonds and rings. Blood (that he could still feel) matting his hair and skin bruised so bad it looked like he really _was _dead.

“Is that why you were doing your little photo shoot?! You think anyone’s gunna believe that?! Me, _me _getting beaten to death by some fucking nameless thug?!”

“Of course, they will. Now, get changed.”

One of the guards shoved a folded stack of beige through the bars, backing away just in time to miss Jaehwan’s clawing hands.

“I’m not wearing this trash! Get me a Gucci tracksuit and then we’ll talk,” Jaehwan retorted, pressing his body up against the bars and trying to stare the man down. “What’s your name anyway, handsome?” he tried, plastering a smile on his face, trying to soften the man up. Trying to crack his hard exterior a bit. Maybe if he could get the man to like him then-

“My name is Cha Hakyeon. Get dressed.”

Jaehwan smiled wider. “Maybe we could talk, just us, get to know each other better? You wanna talk, handsome? I wanna talk_\- mother fucking ow!”_

Another shock had cracked through the bars and sent Jaehwan stumbling away into the center of the cell. He stared at the man, Cha Hakyeon, through widened eyes, hating the electricity making his muscles twitch and jump. Reminding him of what it was like to be strapped to a table with electrodes-

“Get changed, I won’t say it again,” Hakyeon said, tapping one elegant dress shoe against the cement floor. Jaehwan blinked hard, an unfamiliar sensation sending him shaking. Fear. But Jaehwan didn’t _fear, _he wasn’t scared of anything! But this- this- the way this man was _watching_ him sent chills up Jaehwan’s spine.

With trembling fingers, Jaehwan snatched up the pile of clothing but he never stopped smiling. This fucker thought he had shame? Cared about showing off a little skin? Not a chance.

He slid the ugly bomber off his shoulders and shimmied out of the stupid shorts. Making sure to move slow, put on a little show for this psychotic fuck. Cha Hakyeon watched him, unflinching, unblinking, Jaehwan couldn’t tell whether the man was uninterested or just plain unimpressed.

Jaehwan didn’t really care either way. He could almost _see_ Sanghyuk, _feel_ him in the cell beside him. Feel the loss of his warmth like a knife to the heart. It took everything Jaehwan had to stop the tears from rolling down his cheeks. Normally he wouldn’t care but showing weakness in front of this monster probably wouldn’t be a good idea.

The beige jumpsuit was rough against his skin but Jaehwan pretended like he didn’t notice. But those razor eyes looking back at him...

“Are you the devil?” he hummed, tilting his head to the side and peering at the man intently.

The first smile. Splashed across the man’s face like poison.

“Maybe,” Hakyeon replied, turning and walking away back toward the exit.

“Welcome to Belle Reve.”

♢♤♧♡♧♤♢

Wonshik stared up at the night sky, waiting. Waiting for the _hateful_ man to show his face.

He stood on the roof of the police station, newspaper clipping clutched in his fist, the bat signal illuminated and burning a pattern into the low clouds above. Tears still stained his face from when he’d cried into Hongbin’s shoulder earlier but Wonshik didn’t care. How could he care when his best friend...

“How can I help you, Commissioner?”

Wonshik whirled, pulling his gun from the holster at his hip and aiming it directly at the bats head. “You did this,” he hissed, holding the paper up for the bat to see. Waving it in the freaks face like a flag. “You’re the reason my best friend is dead!”

“It was for the greater good, Commissioner. Hwannie Lee was a menace to our society. He endangered the people of Gotham every day. It was a public service.”

Wonshik snarled wordlessly, despair leaving him drained and shaking, but he didn’t lower his weapon. “You think I care?! Jaehwan was _good!_ I could have helped him, could have saved him, but you took him away! Took the chance at redemption away from him! And now I’ll never get him back you fucking _monster!”_

“I do not regret my actions, Commissioner Kim. Taking villains off the streets is my sworn duty,” the bat replied, that digitally altered voice like nails on a chalkboard to Wonshik. He’d never really understood why people hated the bat before, but he did now. This shadow, this wraith had taken the love of his life away before Wonshik ever got the chance to love him properly. There was no mending this, no fixing their partnership, no coming back from the bat’s betrayal.

“And what about your vow never to take a life?” Wonshik spat, stuffing the clipping into the inside pocket of his jacket along with the xeroxed photo of Jaehwan. The picture was always with him nowadays. Some broken remnant of a past with no future. Wonshik couldn’t let that go. Not even now.

The bat gave an infuriatingly noncommittal shrug. “I didn’t kill your friend, Commissioner.”

“You as good as killed him and you know it! Don’t use fucking semantics to try and make yourself feel better!”

“I am sorry for your loss, Commissioner, truly I am, but if you’re going to shoot me then please get on with it.”

Wonshik sucked in a breath, staring at that pitiless black mask with pure, undiluted hatred. The gun in his hand began to shake and they stood there for a moment. Facing off in the silence of the night.

“You aren't worth it,” Wonshik spat, lowering his eyes and holstering his gun. “You’re nothing!”

Without another word, Wonshik stomped to the door and passed through it, slamming it as hard as he could. The tears had begun to fall again, unbidden and unwelcome. Wonshik didn’t care. He took the back way out to his cruiser and slid inside, folding himself up on the driver's seat and sobbing into his hands.

♢♤♧♡♧♤♢

Wonshik’s tuxedo felt too tight. Like he’d grown since the last time he’d worn it. And the bow tie wasn’t helping him feel any less suffocated. The only aspect of the night that felt right was having Hongbin at his side. It was Hongbin’s party. In Hongbin’s penthouse. With Hongbin’s trust fund buddies and their trophy wives. It was hard to think of an environment less well suited to him.

But Hongbin had thrown this party for Wonshik. To try and give him a distraction, at least for a night, and so Wonshik plastered a smile on his face for Hongbin’s sake. He’d stand around and sip his champagne and_ ‘be handsome’ _for Hongbin’s sake. Because Hongbin was the only thing he had going for him, the only positive in his life, the only one on his side. And Wonshik wasn’t going to disrespect him by acting like a sulky baby all night.

“You alright, Shik?” Hongbin asked, sidling up to him with a little plate of hors d'oeuvres. Wonshik kept his smile firmly in place.

“Yeah, I’m fine. It’s weird being around all of these grown up frat boys though,” he replied, tangling his fingers with Hongbin’s. Hongbin beamed at him, that beam Wonshik always used to make fun of. Called it the _‘shark-toothed grin’._He was truly a startlingly beautiful person, Wonshik thought, brushing a stray strand of hair off Hongbin’s forehead. Inside and out.

“Come on, I wanna show you something,” Hongbin said, popping a bite of Crudités into his mouth and pulling Wonshik over to the staircase. Everyone was congregated on the penthouses’ sprawling lower level but Hongbin dragged him upstairs, and then up a second flight of stairs until they reached a door marked ‘roof’.

“The roof? Really?”

Hongbin just kept smiling as he pushed it open.

Wonshik’s breath caught in his throat. The view was somehow even more staggering out in the fresh air. A million stars raining down on the cityscape, and there they were, in the heart of Gotham, and it made Wonshik feel so fucking small. An infinitesimal speck in the vastness of the world around them. Nothing more than a blip on humanity's collective consciousness. It made him want to cry?

“Don’t get all sappy on me, Shik, it’s just a pretty view,” Hongbin said, the sound of distant music and tinkling laughter mingling with his words, twining around them like vines.

“No,” Wonshik replied, heart beating a touch faster as he took the plate from Hongbin’s hand and set it on the cement floor. He wrapped one arm around Hongbin, a hand on the small of his back, fingers still intertwined. Beginning to sway to the faint melody. Slow and gentle.

“You’re the most hopeless romantic I've ever met,” Hongbin sighed, his deep, soft laughter even prettier than the music.

“Stop being so pragmatic for once in your life and just live in the moment with me.”

Hongbin surrendered to him, letting Wonshik swirl him around the rooftop to the refrain of distant violins. He lost himself for a few minutes, in the pure and undiluted joy of holding a beautiful person in a beautiful place with beautiful music. The air was cool and crisp around them, but Wonshik barely noticed. He noticed even less when Hongbin rested his head on his shoulder.

“You’re a good one, Bin, I’m lucky to have you in my life,” Wonshik murmured, brushing a kiss to the younger’s forehead. Hongbin gave his chest a weak smack. “Don’t say stuff like that, you’ll make me start emoting and _nobody_wants that.”

_“I _want it,” Wonshik replied, cupping Hongbin’s face in his hand and pressing a slow kiss to his lips. Wonshik was in heaven, then, even if only for a heartbeat. Able to forget his loss for just a heartbeat.

The sound of screaming and breaking glass from down in the penthouse wrenched Wonshik from his temporary euphoria. Hongbin pulled away from him, the sudden lack of his warmth bringing the commissioner back to himself, both of their feet already pounding across the roof as they ran back to the door.

The penthouse was in chaos. Shards of crockery everywhere, guests screaming bloody murder and gunfire popping in place of violins.

“Get behind me,” Wonshik shouted, straining to be heard over the mayhem. He reached back, fumbling blindly for Hongbin’s hand as men in suits and clown masks swarmed through the crowd, but Hongbin was just gone. Wonshik hadn’t seen him leave, hadn't heard a whisper or word, and Hongbin was just _gone._ Like he hadn’t been there at all.

Wonshik hadn’t brought his gun. Because Hongbin told him not to. Because it should have been _safe._ Fuck.

“Everybody shut_ the fuck_ up!”

The roar came, that voice, and Wonshik froze. His body just shut down. He couldn’t move, couldn’t speak, couldn’t breathe.

“Kim Wonshik! Get your ass out here before I start _killing_ people!”

_Joker. _Wonshik could see him over the heads of a few shorter guests. Everyone had stopped moving as soon as Sanghyuk had shouted, some cowering and crying, others looking stupidly defiant in the face of the clowns.

“I am going to count to three! And if you aren't here by the time I’m done, _every single person _in this room dies!”

Wonshik tried to inhale and failed. Sanghyuk looked downright _feral_ in a way he never had before. The deep indigo suit was perfectly pressed, his hair was combed back and obviously styled, but there was what looked like red lipstick smeared across his mouth. Those beetle black eyes glinting with a wild light.

Normally, the thing that was so unnerving about him was the detachment. The lack of any feeling other than laughter. The joy he derived from complete and total anarchy. But now, he looked strangely human. He looked like a man who’d _lost._

“One!”

A gunshot accompanied the number, a woman Wonshik didn’t recognize crumpling to the ground in a heap. The violet Glock was in Sanghyuk’s hand. Wonshik hadn’t seen it. It was his fault that the woman had just died. He couldn’t let Sanghyuk get to two.

“Stop!” he shouted, forcing his body to resume normal functions. His legs wobbled a bit, ears still ringing from the gunshot, but he managed to push his way through the people in front of him.

Sanghyuk whirled at the sound of his voice, the manic grin on his face seemingly crafted of pure malice.

_“You,”_ he hissed, meeting Wonshik halfway and grabbing him by the lapels. His gun clattered to the floor and Wonshik’s back collided with a table, empty wine glasses crushed under his weight. That ferocious gleam in Sanghyuk’s eyes was much more frightening up close. _Unhinged._

“You handed my baby over to the bat,” Joker snarled, bending down and pinning the commissioner to the table, so close that their noses almost touched. It felt like what Wonshik imagined being held down by a wild tiger must feel like. Paws heavy on your chest and glinting fangs at your neck. Because Sanghyuk had gotten a knife from somewhere. And the blade was pressed against Wonshik’s throat.

Another bad sign. _‘Guns are for business, knives for when it’s personal.’_

“He told me about you, told me that you _loved_ him and that he loved you and forbade me from killing you, and you gave him up without a fucking fight!”

Sanghyuk’s voice was rising in volume as the words left his mouth, Wonshik doing his best not to wince. Joker pulled back a few inches, enough to get a grip on the collar of his white dress shirt and yank. Wonshik chanced a glance down, saw the spot on Sanghyuk’s chest that Sanghyuk was showing him. Right over his heart. A diamond shaped tattoo with an arrow through it, the initials HL etched there in blood red ink. _Hwannie Lee. _

“He’s gone because of _you. _My _everything_ is gone; my heart is gone and it’s _all your fault!”_

Sanghyuk hung over him like a broken mirror, skin pale, chest heaving, darkest agony in his eyes.

“I- I didn’t know-“ Wonshik grit his teeth, swallowing against the knife at his neck, “I didn’t know what Batman was going to do.”

This was what grief looked like for Sanghyuk, Wonshik realized, staring up into those twin pools of savage brutality. Sanghyuk was_ grieving._ He was wounded. Animals were always the most dangerous when they’re wounded.

“Don’t _lie_ to me, Commissioner! You’re a weak and cowardly piece of shit and you know it! Why did you let it happen!? Why!? Because you were jealous!? Fucking _pathetic!”_

Wonshik felt his half-mended heart shatter at those words. That accusation. “You don’t understand,” he managed, sounding like a broken record even to himself now. That seemed to be all he was capable of saying nowadays. “I tried to save him. Before the bat ever got near this whole thing, I tried to save him. I tried to take him to a safe house, but he wouldn’t listen.”

“Bullshit!” Sanghyuk spat, eyes narrowing and head twitching sideways at the sound of swishing fabric.

Lightning quick, Wonshik was being pulled to his feet and spun around, his back to the Joker's chest and the knife pressing pinpricks of pain over his adam's apple.

The bat was there, standing in the middle of the wide room like he owned the fucking place. Wonshik felt his insides twisting into knots, a mix of hatred for the masked man and quiet hope that Hongbin had found a safe place to hide. That Hongbin was out of harm's way. He’d lost everyone else, Hongbin _had_ to be safe.

“Let Commissioner Kim go, Joker. This isn’t his fight.” That digitally enhanced voice that Wonshik had learned to despise. 

“Oh, _isn't_ it?!” Sanghyuk shouted, manic peals of laughter ringing through his words as the blade dug into Wonshik’s flesh.

“You... you, you _poisonous_ little shit, you unleashed this! You think you’ve seen chaos!? Terror!? Well you stole the only thing I had to live for, Batsy, and now you’re going to see what anarchy _really_ looks like!”

The people around them were still frozen in fear but the bat took a step forward. Because he was obviously a stupid fucking idiot. Sanghyuk only really had to hold Wonshik there with the knife, and he made use of his free hand, pulling a second pistol from somewhere and letting off a shot at the bat’s feet. “I’m going to bring your precious city to its knees, Batsy, and then, maybe, _maybe _you’ll understand _half_ of what it’s like to lose your everything!”

Sanghyuk was backing up now, dragging Wonshik with him up the stairs he and Hongbin had just come down. Through the door to the roof. The bat shadowed them at a safe distance, following but never getting close enough that he posed a real threat.

“Lee Jaehwan is alive.”

The sentence hit Wonshik like a punch to the gut. He didn’t know whether to be relieved at the news or furious at the bat for keeping it a secret for so long. Sanghyuk’s hand gripping his upper arm tightened considerably and Wonshik flinched.

“Where.”

Batman didn’t answer.

“Tell him, tell _me,” _Wonshik pleaded, a sob rising unbidden in his throat. If he knew where Jaehwan was, Wonshik could get him back. There was a chance of saving him. A chance was better than nothing, which was what Wonshik had been trying and failing to come to grips with since he’d seen the picture of Jaehwan’s body in that shadowed alley. But if he was alive... Wonshik knew Sanghyuk was having the same thoughts that he was. It would be a race between them but, at this point, Wonshik didn't care who saved Jaehwan as long as he _was_ saved.

“Tell me where my heart is, Batsy, or I throw him off this fucking roof!”

The bat took several very quick steps forwards at that, Sanghyuk matching him move for move. “Let him go, Joker.”

“Tell me!”

Wonshik felt something in him fracture when the bat smiled. He smiled with perfect, white teeth. Dimples. Wonshik knew that smile. But- it wasn’t possible. It just _wasn’t. _Wonshik denied it outright.

“Let Commissioner Kim go, and I’ll tell you.”

No. No, no, _no,_ Wonshik could hear faint traces in that voice now, now that he was listening for them. Traces of Hongbin.

“You think I’m _stupid?”_ Sanghyuk shouted, his voice abruptly shifting back to that roar from when he first arrived. Wonshik didn’t have to imagine the viciousness gleaming in his eyes. The picture of it was burned behind his eyelids.

“Let Wonshik go.”

There was a pause. A pause in which Wonshik tried to come to terms with the pieces he was putting together. He couldn’t. He just couldn’t deal with this on top of everything else.

“Oh... oh, I see now,” Sanghyuk giggled, taking another step back toward the roofs edge. “I see it now, Batsy, I see, I see, I _see!”_

Wonshik swallowed hard, the majesty of the view spoiled by fear.

“You _love_ him!”

No.

“Joker...”

“You _do!_ That’s downright fucking hysterical!”

Wonshik felt bile rising in his throat, fists clenching at his sides. He didn’t want to hear Hongbin say it, not in that voice. He couldn’t. He _couldn’t. _

“I’m going to show you, Batsy. I'm going to show you.”

Another step. Wonshik was going to die.

“I’m going to tear myself to pieces so I can cut you on the shards, Batsy. And I am going to keep cutting you and cutting you and _cutting_ you until I get my Hwannie back!”

“Let him go, Joker!”

Sanghyuk let out a final, _quiet _laugh. “Very poor choice of words.”

Wonshik was falling. He was in the air. And then sliding, fabric of his tuxedo jacket slipping across the building’s slanted glass roof. The image of Sanghyuk’s malicious grin seared permanently in his retinas. Juniper hair fluttering in the wind, silhouette ringed in starlight.

A black shape was following him, feet running as soundless as a shadow across the translucent panes. The bat. Hongbin.

A scream tore itself from Wonshik as the firm support beneath him disappeared. He was in freefall. Eyes squeezed shut and heart in his throat. Roaring in his ears mixed with the faintest bit of laughter. He was going to die. He’d never gotten a chance to say goodbye to his family. Hadn’t gotten a chance to see Jaehwan alive. Hadn’t gotten a chance to kiss Hongbin one last time. He was going to die and-

A pair of arms circled him as tight as a vice and his eyes flew open. The bat had him. The bat had jumped after him. Black mechanical wings being torn to shreds by the wind, slowing their descent somewhat. But was it enough? Wonshik didn’t have any more breath left to scream with.

Impact jolted through him, rocking through him with the force of a thunderclap. Almost unbearable. His body nearly shook apart from the force of it. Metal screeching. He wasn’t dead. Hongbin had maneuvered them in midair so he was the one who hit the ground. Or, his suit hit the parked car, as it were.

Woozy, disoriented, Wonshik shifted around in the newly formed crater. One of his arms was dislocated but he could barely feel it.

“Bin,” he whispered on an exhale, body refusing to move how he wanted it too. But he managed to get a hand up regardless, pushing the mask off that face he adored.

A curtain of blood, streams of scarlet running down his face. Eyes shut. Mouth open. But breathing. Hongbin _was_breathing.


	8. Chapter 8

Hongbin surfaced from what felt like a drug induced sleep, smacking his lips at the unpleasant metallic taste lingering on his tongue. His entire body ached. It felt like he’d gone skydiving without a parachute- _oh. Right. _

_Plummeting through the air... Wonshik’s hand just out of reach... then an impact so abrupt that he felt his skeleton liquify... _

God, it felt like someone was hammering on his skull. Hongbin stopped trying to sit up, slumping back on his pillows with a groan. Staring up at the familiar cream-colored ceiling of his bedroom at Lee Manor.

How had he gotten here? His suit must have sent a distress signal to Taekwoon when he hit the ground, or had it been a car? He vaguely remembered trying to aim for a car...

The sound of footsteps from somewhere nearby caught Hongbin's attention, even if his head was still pretty fuzzy.

“Hello? Taek?” he called, managing to prop himself up on an elbow just as the door connecting his bedroom to his office opened.

“Oh.”

Wonshik had frozen on the threshold, fingers still on the doorknob and phone in his other hand. Staring at Hongbin like he’d never properly seen him before.

“What were you doing in my office?” Hongbin asked, hating the croakiness of his own voice. Hating that expression on Wonshik’s face.

Wonshik cleared his throat, taking a hesitant step further into the room. “I was making sure you weren’t trying to work when you should be resting. Taekwoon let me in.”

His tone was so monotone, so empty, it made Hongbin's heart begin to ache.

“How could you do that to me?”

Hongbin collapsed again. He’d rather stare at the ceiling than see the hatred on Wonshik’s face. Wonshik, who had been so close to loving him that Hongbin had been able to _taste_ it. Wonshik, who Hongbin had loved in silence for years. Wonshik, who probably despised him now.

“It was the right thing,” he replied quietly, squeezing his eyes shut.

“You let me believe he was_ dead.”_

“It was safer for you not to know, if Joker had gotten ahold of you and found out-“

“I don’t give a _fuck_ about _Joker!”_ Wonshik shouted, and Hongbin could just picture his hands balling into fists. A muscle twitching in his jaw. “Were you _ever_ going to tell me?!”

“No,” Hongbin breathed, the combination of his headache and Wonshik’s anger making it very hard for him not to cry. He bit the inside of his cheek until the stinging in his eyes subsided.

Wonshik let out a shaky breath, walking closer to the bed. Hongbin heard him approach but kept his eyes shut. He couldn’t look. He just _couldn’t. _

“How are you feeling?”

“Like shit, thanks for asking,” Hongbin replied quietly, trying to ignore everything happening around him. Ignore the fact that Wonshik was pulling his blankets up and tucking them under his chin. Ignore the press of soft lips against his forehead. _God,_ he wanted to cry so fucking badly.

“Get some rest, I’ll be back to check on you later,” Wonshik said, standing and moving away from the bed. Hongbin cracked an eye open.

“Will you forgive me?”

Wonshik’s shoulders tensed, his hand now on the door to the hallway. He didn’t turn around, simply stood there in silence for a moment before pulling the door open.

“I haven’t decided.”

The door shut with a soft _click_ and Hongbin shut his eyes again, rolling onto his side and hiding his face in his pillow. _It wasn’t supposed to happen like this, _he thought, salty tears dampening the fabric of his pillowcase and sobs wracking his body.

♢♤♧♡♧♤♢

Jaehwan arched his back, knees hooked around the bedsheet he’d tied to the bars on the roof of his cage. The little swing he’d made to keep himself occupied.

He had no idea how long he’d been trapped in this hell, there were no windows and they never turned the lights off. He had no way to tell time. No way to gage the rise and fall of the sun.

The guards came to talk to him sometimes, if Jaehwan could coax them over. His favorite one, Jaehwan didn’t know his name, even brought Jaehwan candy sometimes. He had a tone so condescending it made Jaehwan's skin start to crawl, but there wasn’t much to be done about that.

But his Puddin’ was coming for him, of that Jaehwan was absolutely sure. It was the only thing that kept him going, kept his mind from slipping away completely.

Jaehwan swung himself up, sitting on his swing and crossing his legs. Rocking gently back and forth. A strand of pink fringe drifted in front of his eyes and Jaehwan stared at it, rubbing the sore spot on the side of his neck almost absentmindedly.

They’d injected him with it yesterday, or Jaehwan thought it had been yesterday. Some sort of nano explosive and tracking device all rolled into one. It had hurt like a bitch but Jaehwan didn’t mind. He didn’t care about pain anymore.

“Pretty boy?”

Jaehwan’s eyes snapped forward, the metal door in the far wall of his private cellblock had opened and his main guard was there, flanked by four more flunkies Jaehwan didn’t recognize.

He grinned, giggling as he rolled backwards to hang by his knees once more and watching the men upside down. The guard clicked his tongue, dark eyes gleaming as he walked right up to the bars of Jaehwan’s cage. Smiling a predator's smile that Jaehwan was more than familiar with by now.

“Come on, sugar, get down,” he said, tone coaxing, flicking his chestnut brown hair out of his eyes as Jaehwan rolled over, dangling by his hands so his toes were maybe an inch off the ground. The guard chuckled, crooking a finger, propping himself up against the bars with an elbow.

Jaehwan dropped lightly to his feet, sauntering up to the bars as slowly as he dared. “Good boy,” the guard hummed, petting Jaehwan’s hair through the bars, laughing when Jaehwan playfully nipped at his fingers.

It had become apparent to Jaehwan that trying to assault his jailers would get him nowhere. There were too many centuries lining the balcony above, watching him 24/7. Ready to shoot him with tranqs at the drop of a hat. Or shock him through the floor. He only came to this conclusion after attacking his first two jailers. Kicking in the first one's skull and biting through the arm of the second one so hard he’d felt the man’s tendon snap.

But this guard, his most recent jailer, wasn’t as stupid as the first two. He never actually tried to enter Jaehwan’s cell. The other two dumbfucks had it coming.

“We’re going on a little walk, sugar,” the guard continued, petting Jaehwan’s cheek.

A walk? Jaehwan liked the sound of that very, _very_ much.

“Put your hands out for me, that’s a good boy,” the guard hummed, tapping under Jaehwan’s chin when he stuck his hands a few inches through the bars.

Jaehwan watched with covert interest as the metal cuffs were clapped around his wrists. It wasn’t much of a surprise. They’d have to be complete morons to let him out untethered, and Jaehwan knew that the big boss, at least, wasn’t a moron.

The guard raised a hand and Jaehwan had maybe a second of conscious thought before something sharp pricked the side of his neck. Tranquilizer dart. _Damn it. _

Jaehwan slumped forwards, trying to stay upright as his guard unlocked the door to his cell and walked slowly inside. He saw the other flunkies follow, vision blurry and eyes falling shut as his jailer scooped him up. Jaehwan went limp, unable to keep his eyes open any longer, hearing his jailer chuckle and say, “A whole lotta pretty and a whole lotta crazy,” before the world around him went black.

The next thing Jaehwan knew, he was leaning up against his jailer’s chest with his hands cuffed behind his back. Ankles cuffed too, Jaehwan thought, raising one of his feet to check. He still felt hazy and not very steady on his feet, most of his weight supported by his jailer.

“Rise and shine, pretty boy,” his jailer breathed, nudging Jaehwan’s temple with his chin. Jaehwan growled at him but the guard just laughed. Maybe his plan to soften up the guy had worked too well. The jailer might like Jaehwan too much.

Jaehwan pushed that thought from his mind, blinking around at his unfamiliar surroundings. There were lots of people here, and only maybe half were in uniform. Odd.

There were several people in beige scrubs like he was. A downright _gorgeous_ guy with pretty lips and prettier eyes. Two shorter men with golden blonde hair standing side by side. One guy who looked like he’d just stepped off a yacht on the Amalfi coast. And another guy who was a few inches shorter than Jaehwan with very sharp eyes. None of these people were smiling but that didn’t stop Jaehwan’s grin. All the inmates having a little get together. _How sweet._

All of these people had a guard with them, a handler, Jaehwan realized now. None of the guards were touching their prisoners the way his was touching him, but nobody gave his handler a second glance.

Continuing his scan of the room, Jaehwan found the big boss, that Cha Hakyeon, being flanked by two women. One was in camo pants and a white tank top, staring the inmates down with such pure disgust that it made Jaehwan itch. And the other was all in leather with what appeared to be a sword strapped to her back. That one had clearly seen the Kill Bill movies a few too many times.

“I’ve brought you all here,” Hakyeon began, with absolutely no preamble, “To explain what you’ll be doing for me today.”

Jaehwan shifted a little, trying to ignore the hand his jailer had resting on his waist.

“As I am sure each of you are aware, you are death row inmates at Belle Reve Penitentiary. Now, instead of serving out your sentences behind bars, I’ve decided to put your skills to use.”

“How?” the guy with the pretty lips asked, earning a jab in the back from his handler. The guy didn’t even flinch. A tough customer. Jaehwan _liked_ tough customers.

The chick in camo cleared her throat, clearly not pleased with her boss being interrupted, but Hakyeon ignored her.

“I’ve put you into a little group, Task Force X. You’ll be using your considerable abilities to serve your country.”

“Sorry, but,” Jaehwan hummed, not bothering to conceal the laughter bubbling up from his stomach. “We’re the _bad guys,_ remember? Why do you think we’d lift a finger for you?”

His handler shushed him, brushing his hair off his forehead and murmuring, “Good boy,” when Jaehwan went quiet. His mouth ghosting over the shell of Jaehwan’s ear.

Jaehwan wondered, and not for the first time, if they’d assigned him this particular guard for a reason. If he was being instructed to speak to Jaehwan the way Sanghyuk did to try and calm Jaehwan down. If so, it wasn’t working. The words may be right, but this man was _nothing_ like his Puddin’. It took all of Jaehwan’s willpower to stop himself snapping his head back and breaking his handler's nose.

“Unfortunately, Mr. Lee, you don’t have a choice.”

“It’s _Doctor,_ actually.”

“Quiet, sugar,” his handler murmured, the hand gripping Jaehwan’s waist tightening a little. Jaehwan just rolled his eyes.

Hakyeon continued right on talking as if Jaehwan hadn’t spoken. “I can detonate the bombs in your necks at any time. Try to run, you die. Refuse to follow orders, you die. Put so much as a toe out of line? That’s right, you die. This is Sergeant Kim Hyuna, she will be in charge of your operations and will be acting as team leader while you’re in the field.”

The camo chick stepped forwards, flashing all of them a frankly frigid smile.

“And this,” Hakyeon went on, gesturing to the Kill Bill enthusiast, “Well, you can just call her Hwasa. She’ll be keeping an eye on you as well. I’d suggest not fucking around under her watch, her sword will steal your soul. Not a pretty way to go.”

“And what do we get in return for our cooperation?” the sharp-eyed man asked, making Hakyeon smile. “Your lives, at least for a little while. Now, suit up and get ready, you deploy in ten minutes. Once you have all your gear, return to your handlers and wait for further instructions.”

That’s when Jaehwan noticed the various crates lined up in front of them, each with a name stamped into one side. Jaehwan scanned them, reading as his handler slowly started unlocking his manacles. _Limelight, Savant, Deadshot, Hwannie Lee, Voltaic._

“Go on, sugar, go pick out something pretty.”

Jaehwan rubbed his sore wrists, stepping toward the crates as quickly as he dared. These fuckers weren’t crazy enough to actually give them _weapons,_ were they?!

But sure enough, the crate with his name on it was full of familiar items. His favorite chunky sneakers, a torn pair of fishnets, even his satin bomber jacket with the tiger on the back that Wonshik hated so much. Thinking of Wonshik was a mistake. Jaehwan tried to push the thought of his best friend out of his mind as he stripped out of his beige scrubs.

He had his fishnets on and was just buttoning up his denim shorts when he realized the guy next to him was staring. The one with pretty lips. Deadshot, going by the name on his crate.

“What are you lookin at, handsome?” Jaehwan asked, flashing a smile before digging further into his crate.

“Nothing special,” Deadshot replied, Jaehwan watching out of the corner of his eye as the guy stepped into a tight pair of black jeans.

Jaehwan found a cherry red long sleeve shirt and pulled it on over his head. “What’s your name?”

“Deadshot, can you not read?”

“What’s your _real_ name?” Jaehwan pulled his tiger jacket on over the shirt and slid his feet into his sneakers. Weapons...

“Seokjin. And I know your name.”

Jaehwan glanced over, watching his new friend shrug on a well-fitting leather jacket. “I know, I’m famous,” he replied with a giggle. This was the outfit he captured the bat in. His lucky outfit. Jaehwan fished around and finally found his pink and blue revolver, sliding it into the waistband of his shorts and propping his baseball bat on his shoulder.

“You know any of these others?”

Jaehwan shook his head.

“Me neither.”

Jaehwan watched Seokjin conceal at least five different guns inside his jacket and then secure some kind of titanium cuff on his wrist.

“Why don’t we stick together? I like you,” Jaehwan said quietly, scooting a bit closer to his new friend and flashing his most charming smile. Seokjin eyed him for a moment but nodded. _Good._ Having at least one ally would be better than nothing.

“Hwannie,” his handler called, and Jaehwan turned his head. Watching the stupid man grin and crook his finger. Jaehwan giggled, thinking of all the ways he could dismember the fucker as he walked back over. The picture of an obedient prisoner.

“So pretty,” his handler murmured, petting Jaehwan’s cheeks. Jaehwan smiled, imagining filleting the skin off the man’s bones.

He waited, silent, ignoring the fucker’s hands on him as the others finished suiting up. Debating whether or not to risk testing the little thing in his neck. If firing a shot at Hakyeon was worth it. Or beating his handler to death with his bat. That would _definitely_ be worth it, but then he’d probably never see his Puddin’ again. So Jaehwan simply stood still.

“Alright, all of you line up,” the camo girl, Sergeant Kim, called, Jaehwan pulling away from his handler with a sigh. He walked forward and managed to situate himself between Seokjin and one of the blondes. The sergeant kept talking but Jaehwan tuned her out, inching closer and closer until he could nudge Seokjin’s shoulder.

His new friend glanced at him, almost smiling before looking away again. If he’d heard about Jaehwan and was also trapped in this hell, maybe he’d heard good things. Jaehwan decided he’d soften this guy up the same way he’d softened up his handler. Shouldn’t be too hard.

“Alright, let’s go,” the sergeant called, leading them towards what looked like a military copter. The chick with the sword following from the back.

Hakyeon gave them a faux-cheery wave as they went past. Jaehwan hated the man so much he almost stopped smiling.

Once all of the prisoners, or _task force members, _were strapped into their seats and the copter had taken off, Sergeant Kim spoke up.

“Everyone introduce yourselves and then I’ll brief you on our mission,” she said, a very tasty looking machine gun lying across her lap. One finger was on the trigger but Jaehwan didn’t care. He hadn’t breathed fresh air or seen the sky in god knows how long. He was _free,_ or as free as he was going to get for the moment.

“I’m Jongin, codename Voltaic,” the guy who looked like he belonged on a yacht said, doing a little two fingered salute. He was sitting directly across from Jaehwan and Jaehwan smiled at him. _Legs for days._

The sharp-eyed man sat on his left, flicking his black hair out of his eyes. “Taemin. Codename Savant.”

“I’m Baekhyun, codename Lime,” said one of the blondes. “And I’m Jongdae, codename Light,” said the other. “They call us the evil twins.”

“Cute!” Jaehwan squeaked, clapping a little. “I’m Hwannie Lee. Codename... I guess codename Hwannie Lee. It’s a pleasure to meet you all!”

His new friend snorted a little but then introduced himself. “Seokjin. Codename Deadshot.”

“Great,” the sergeant muttered, clearly unhappy with her assignment to babysit six dangerous killers. “We’re heading to Star City, carrying out a smash and grab operation, you're all familiar with what that is?”

Jaehwan wasn’t precisely _familiar_ with military ops, but he knew what smashing and grabbing were, so he nodded along with the others.

“Briefing packets are under your seats. Memorize them and then try to get some sleep, we have a few hours of travel time.”

♢♤♧♡♧♤♢

Wonshik was in a suit. _Again._

Or not exactly a suit, but he had on dress pants and a black button up, and his fanciest pair of dress shoes. He’d even put on the thin gold chain Jaehwan had bought him for his birthday two years ago, visible as the top two buttons of his shirt were open, and he'd spritzed a bit of cologne on his wrists. Hair styled up and freshly showered.

Normally he wouldn’t bother so much with his appearance, but casualness was frowned upon where he was going.

He’s taken his civilian car, a nondescript black sedan, rather than his cruiser. Looking like a cop would do him no favors tonight. Wonshik was so out of his depth he may as well be floating in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

“Back of the line,” a burly looking bouncer grunted, crossing hammy arms over a chest almost wider than he was tall.

Wonshik slid his hands in his pockets, affecting the most arrogant demeanor he was physically capable of pulling off. “I have an appointment with your boss,” he replied coolly, fast paced dance music leaking out of the club's front entrance.

The bouncer eyed him and then held a walkie to his mouth, saying something too quietly for Wonshik to hear and then waiting for a reply. After a few moments he seemed satisfied, lifting a red rope and ushering Wonshik in. Two obviously armed men were waiting just inside, and they escorted Wonshik up a staircase and then into what looked like a private booth.

“Arms out, sir,” one of the men said, the other frisking Wonshik for weapons. He found Wonshik’s gun relatively quickly but Wonshik hadn’t expected to be allowed to keep it. He just sighed.

_For Jaehwan, _the thought, scanning the open club floor below.

Jaehwan was the only reason he was here. He’d never have thought he’d be in this position, never thought he’d need to be, but Jaehwan... he’d walk into hell if Jaehwan needed him too. Make a deal with the devil if Jaehwan needed him too. And that’s exactly what Wonshik planned to do.

“Go on in, sir, he’s expecting you.”

Wonshik nodded, lowering his arms and adjusting his collar, taking a deep breath before walking fully into the booth.

Sanghyuk was lounging on a sofa thing against one wall, and Wonshik didn’t know why he felt surprised to see him. It was _his_ club, after all.

There was a girl there as well, hair dyed half magenta and half neon blue. A lot of _‘edgy’_ people had started doing their hair that way after Jaehwan _‘died’._ Like it was some sort of solute to his villainy. She’d been sitting on Sanghyuk’s lap, but he nudged her off, waving toward a door opposite that which Wonshik had entered from. Wonshik’s tempter spiked a bit.

“Who was that?” he asked, looking pointedly at the door the girl had vanished through.

Sanghyuk shrugged, crossing his legs and lifting a glass of something amber to his mouth. “A distraction. Less than nothing.”

“So, Jaehwan gets kidnapped by the bat, is being held god knows where, and you’re fucking around behind his back?”

Joker shot Wonshik a glare. “You don’t know the details of our private life, Commissioner. Sex means nothing if it’s not with Hwannie. And don’t start lecturing me on using sex as a coping mechanism. At least I’m not fucking my loneliness into one of Gotham’s richest pricks.”

“I’m not Jaehwan’s boyfriend-“

“Oh _god!_ Please shut the fuck up, will you? You’re boring me already,” Joker snapped, “I’m just setting up a fun game for my baby when he gets home.”

“And what would that be?”

Joker grinned, a jagged grin that displayed more pain than humor. “A hit list for him to hunt down.”

The Commissioner tried not to gulp, almost missing when Sanghyuk’s eyes flicked to the door behind him.

“Sir-“

Joker's purple chromed pistol was in his hand and he fired once, just over Wonshik’s shoulder. It was only by the grace of his combat training that Wonshik didn’t flinch at the _bang._ Or the sound of a body crumpling to the floor behind him.

“I said no fucking_ interruptions!”_ Joker shouted, dropping his gun on the couch and waving Wonshik in the direction of a low sort of armchair. He was still clearly on edge, despite trying to conceal the manic terror he'd displayed at Hongbin's party.

Wonshik took a breath to collect himself and then forced himself to move, lowering himself gingerly onto the velvet cushions.

“Now, are we doing business, Commissioner? Or are you just going to lecture me all night?”

“I remember you,” Wonshik said, hoping to throw Joker off balance and gain a bit of leverage right from the start.

Sanghyuk blinked, then laughed. “Do you now?”

Wonshik nodded. “You went to high school with us. You were a freshman when Jae and I were seniors.”

And Wonshik _did_ remember. It was a hazy memory, indistinct, but there had been a freshman at his school named Han Sanghyuk. He had the same sharp jaw and dark eyes as Joker, although he hadn’t quite grown into his features yet. Still short and scrawny. And his hair had been black, not green.

Sanghyuk took another sip of his drink, smiling out at the crowd on the dance floor below.

“I _asked_ if we were doing business, or are you going to sit here and lecture me all night,” he replied, neither confirming nor denying Wonshik’s hunch.

“Fine,” Wonshik huffed, “Have you figured out where they’re holding him yet?”

“As a matter of fact, I _have,” _Sanghyuk said, dropping his glass on the low table before him with a loud _clatter._ He was up and pacing the booth before Wonshik had even registered the movement. Too damn quick by half.

“He’s being held in a prison called Belle Reve, in the middle of some fucking swamp. High security, _very_ high. And my man on the inside has informed me that my baby has been injected with some sort of bomb. In case he ever tried to break out, they could detonate it and kill him remotely.”

“Which is why I’m here,” Wonshik sighed, leaning back in his chair.

“Which is why you’re here, _exactly._ Did you get what I asked for?” Sanghyuk hummed, whirling around to pierce Wonshik with his steely gaze.

Wonshik swallowed hard.

“Yes, but you need to agree to my terms before I hand it over.”

Sanghyuk eyed him, moving to stand directly before Wonshik. A sadistic smile on his face and he leaned over and braced both hands on the back of Wonshik’s armchair. That horrible feeling of being caged in... Wonshik tried his damnedest not to flinch away. “What _terms_ are these, exactly?”

“I want-“ Wonshik struggled for the right word, eventually settling on, “Visitation. I want to be able to see him.”

Joker laughed in his face, a sound so high and cold that it made Wonshik shudder against his will.

The commissioner may be here making a kind of peace, putting a tentative halt on their mutual animosity. He needed to save Jaehwan, and he needed Joker to help him do that. But as soon as his best friend was safely back in Gotham, Wonshik was going to take Joker down. He’d see Joker hang this time, no more little stints in Arkham. It was time for the Joker to pay. _Long_ past time.

“Has it ever crossed your mind, Commissioner,” Joker asked, giggles infecting his words as he leaned in closer, “That my baby just doesn’t want to see you?”

Wonshik gulped, staying completely still.

“My baby can do whatever the fuck he wants, Commissioner, it’s not my fault he doesn’t want to hang out with you anymore.”

Joker was just fucking with him, that much was obvious. Jaehwan couldn’t go anywhere without Joker’s say so, and those bodyguards... no. This was just an attempt to piss Wonshik off. He wouldn’t let his hurt at the insinuation show.

“Now,” Sanghyuk continued, standing up straight and swiping his drink off the table, “Are you going to give it to me or not?”

Wonshik looked away, hating himself more with each passing second as he reached into his back pocket. The folded sheet of paper was right where he’d put it. The one he stole from Hongbin's office earlier in the day. A work order for a nano explosive combined with a tracking device that Cha Hakyeon had shown him during their meeting.

“Here,” he breathed, passing the Joker the work order and crossing his legs. Sanghyuk snatched it from him eagerly, scanning it over the rim of his glass.

“Doctor Jeon... hm,” he hummed, cracking his neck first to the right and then the left. Wonshik failed to suppress a wince that time. “Why don’t we go have a little chat with this _Doctor Jeon?”_

“Now?!” Wonshik spluttered, already feeling so emotionally drained he wanted nothing more than to go home and pass out. But Sanghyuk clearly had other plans.

_“Absolutely_ now! You can go play house with the Lee brat later, we’ve got _business_ to handle.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ouch............   
also for reference, I'm using the Star City from Birds of Prey #119 (ie San Francisco)

**Author's Note:**

> THANK YOU FOR READING MY LITTLE MONSTER <3  
COMMENTS AND KUDOS ARE LOVED <3
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/nestras_rvng)  
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